Introduction to Systems Science and Methods

Author: Chen Yu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: System science is a discipline that summarizes the evolutionary laws of complex systems and studies how to build, manage, and control complex systems. It has the following four fundamental characteristics. (1) Its core is the philosophy of system science, which includes the basic viewpoints and thinking methods of system thinking. (2) It is based on a series of quantitative analysis tools and algorithms provided by mathematics and operations research. (3) It is closely linked with computer science and technology and uses computers as technical means for researching and observing complex systems. (4) It is an actual example based on many achievements of modern science. As a summary of scientific methods, it is not isolated or arbitrarily created. To learn and grasp the philosophy of system science, one must broadly understand and appreciate the new achievements of many disciplines in modern science. From the above characteristics, we can see that the content of system science is very rich. As a course offered to undergraduate students, it is neither possible nor necessary to comprehensively and elaborately introduce all the details.