Living systems : theory and application / Tage Frandberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Frandberg, Tage.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Life.

System theory.

Physical Description:

187 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Huntington, N.Y. : Nova Science Publishers, 2001.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Living and Nonliving Systems 1

Hierarchical Systems 3

Subject Areas 9

Chapter 2 Philosophy and Living Systems Theory 11

Points of View of Alfred N. Whitehead's Philosophy 12

An Integrating World View 12

The Thread 13

Subjectivist and Objectivist Position 15

Process and Reality 16

Chapter 3 Systems 19

General Living Systems 19

Abstracted Systems 21

Processes 22

Chapter 4 Alternative Views of Systems 23

Systems in Living Systems 24

Living Systems

The Vertical Axis 25

Complexity

The Vertical Axis 27

Cybernetics

Innate Subjectivity 28

Soft Systems

The Horizontal Axis 30

Divergence of Values

TSI

The Horizontal Axis 31

Problem Description 32

A Suggestion to Combine the Points of View Along the Axes 33

Chapter 5 Views of Society and Systems 35

Connectedness of Problems in Human Society 35

Chapter 6 Comparisons between Different System Model 49

Simulation, Model, and Uncertainty 50

Simulation and Qualities of Earlier and Future Models 51

Simulation as an Aid in Communication 53

Examples of Cell Models 55

Chapter 7 Model Building 57

Different Points of View 58

Connections between Model and Reality 61

Model and Emergents 64

Cause, Effect and Emergence 65

Acquiring and Processing Data 68

Costs, Efficiency and Effectiveness 70

Measurement Problems and Limits 73

Chapter 8 Entropy 77

Measuring Entropy 81

Rate of Increase of Entropy 83

Energy Flows and Entropy 83

Entropy Compared with Economic Views 84

Entropy and Biological Order 89

Entropy and the Life Length of Living Systems 90

Alternative Interpretations of the Concept of Entropy 93

Chapter 9 Cybernetics 97

The Cell

the Earth System 98

Information and Communication Systems 98

Survey 100

The Feedback Process 102

Qualitative Connections 104

Second-order Cybernetics 105

Different Approaches to the Cybernetic Process 106

Cybernetic Models 107

Cycles 108

Business Cycles 109

Cyclical Changes in Living Systems 109

Structures and Processes 110

Time Aspects 113

Chapter 10 Values 117

Validity 119

Chapter 11 Quality of Life 121

Chapter 12 Application and Simulation 123

The Cell, the Town and the Earth 125

Cross-Level Analysis of Extruder 130

Different Levels of Boundary 136

Data Collection and Statistics 140

Control Problems 140

The Coding of Subsystems According to the Simulation Program 142

References Internet 178.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [169]-179) and index.

ISBN:

1560729163

OCLC:

46359370