An Introduction to General Systems Thinking
Silver Anniversary Edition
ISBN: 0-932633-49-8 ©2001 304 pages softcover
$39.45 (includes $5.50 for U.S. shipping by UPS)
This effective approach to problem solving has been used for years with people in all walks of life. These guidelines include a novel collection of "laws" such as the eye-brain law, the strong connection law, and the used car law, plus such principles as the principle of invariance and the principle of indifference. Through these and other laws and principles, you'll see how to identify the problem, observe and interpret observation, and approach the solution to the problem.
(translated into Japanese, , Chinese)
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(CSQE Body of Knowledge areas: General, Knowledge, Conduct, and Ethics)
Reviewed by John D. Richards
As one can tell from the title, this is not a new book - it is a classic. The author worked on the original from 1961 to 1975. He begins the preface to this silver anniversary edition with a quote from Albert Einstein: "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."
This book is about thinking. It is about how humans organize, synthesize, and put order to their universe. Weinberg in his original preface described his role:
My role, consequently, is to integrate a mass of material into an introductory form. I have tried to gather insights both from general systems theorists and from disciplinarians, to arrange them in a consistent and helpful order, and to translate them into a simpler and more general language so that they become common property (pg. xi).
The book consists of two prefaces, a section on how to use the book, seven chapters, an appendix (a brief mathematical and statistical glossary), end notes, an author index, and a subject index. All are well organized and integrated. Each chapter contains a section titled "Questions for Further Research" and a list of recommended reading. The questions in the first chapter cover 10 disciplines: economics, social psychology and sociology, mechanics, archaeology, thermodynamics (or "thermostatics"), operations research, poetry, neuroendocrinology, and utopian thought.
The Problem begins the reader's journey into systems thinking with a view as to how to define and scope the problems one is going to tackle in later chapters. During this discourse the author draws on examples in physics, biology, and mechanics, to name a few.
The Approach outlines the way people go about solving problems. Weinberg examines many of the "laws" as well as the history of science and systems thinking in a humorous manner. System and Illusion focuses on the development of systems and provides some warning associated with them.
Interpreting Observations examines the interpretation of observations when a superobserver makes such observations. Superobservers see and remember all about a situation; unfortunately, they do not exist. This is followed by an examination of observations as they are affected by the role and orientation of observers. Breaking Down Observations discusses ways in which the limited mental powers of observers influence the observations they make. In reality people do not make perfect or complete observations.
Describing Behavior discusses the use of simulations and their limitations. The author cautions that simulations are limited and may not contain all the information or functionally of things or systems they are intended to represent. Weinberg views chapter 7, Some Systems Questions, not as his last chapter but rather as the end of Part 1.
It is difficult to summarize the book's broad chapters in a few sentences and even more difficult to give this book the credit it deserves in such a limited review. Suffice it to say this is one of the classics of systems or science of computing. I recommend it to all; it will cause both scientists and nonscientists to examine their world and their thinking. This book will appear on my reading table at regular intervals, and one day I hope to update to the golden anniversary edition.
John D. Richards ([email protected]) is an account and project manager for SRA International in San Antonio, Texas. He has spent more than 30 years as a manager and leader. He is an ASQ certified quality engineer and auditor and a Senior member. He has a doctorate and an advanced master1s degree in education from the University of Southern California, and master1s and bachelor1s degrees in psychology. He serves as an adjunct professor at the University of the Incarnate Word, teaching courses in statistics, quantitative analysis, management, and psychology.
A true classic in how humans set and solve problems, March 22, 2001, from Amazon.com
Reviewer: Charles Ashbacher from Hiawatha, Iowa United States([email protected])
In computing, a timeless classic is anything that is worth reading for any reason other than to obtain a historical context after five years. If that still holds true after twenty five years, then it is truly an extraordinary piece of work. That label applies to this book. It is not about computing per se, but about how humans think about things and how "facts" are relative to time, our personal experience and environmental context.
Human thinking is a complex operation and that is the point of this book. The problems and examples presented are not those in computing, but problems in how we think about the world and how that world can be different from person to person. In many ways, Weinberg anticipates the development of the science of chaos, where small changes lead to disproportionate large changes. His example of the "small" change of a single character is a classic. A man was considering the purchase of a piece of real estate, but when told the cost was fourteen million dollars, sent the response by telegram, "No, price too high." However, somehow a character was dropped, so the agent received the message, "No price too high", purchased the property and so a classic error was invented.
Weinberg uses science and mathematics as the genesis point for most of his examples. The laws of thermodynamics, chance and simulations in state spaces are used to demonstrate the points. As someone with a wide background in science, I found his examples of how scientific thought gives us an anchor but yet alters over time excellent learning material. Thought problems are included at the end of each chapter and they cover many different areas. Some involve mathematics, others science and many could be the point of a vigorous philosophical debate. Together they form the best collection of thought experiments and points of contention that I have ever seen gathered together in one location.
This is a book that is a true classic, not in computing but in the broad area of scholarship. It is partly about the philosophy and mechanisms of science; partly about designing things so they work but mostly it is about how humans view the world and create things that match that view. This book will still be worth reading for a long time to come and it is on my list of top ten computing books of the year.
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Reviewer: A reader from San Jose, CA (on Amazon.com)
If I had to select a book that has influenced my thinking most, it would be this one. This book alone spurred my interest in Systems Research, and is one that I have gone back to re-read many times.
Gerald Weinberg has taken the essence of General Systems Theory and formatted it for the masses. His insight into the methodology, and his ability to combine humor with explanation makes this a must-read in the field. While many of the examples are programming-based, that does not detract from the usefullness of this work.
The publisher needs to understand the importance of this work, and put it back into print!
[Ed. Note: Well, that publisher didn't, but Dorset House did, and now you have your wish.]
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A primer of good and fearless thinking., July 6, 1998 (Source: Amazon.com)
Reviewer: [email protected] from San Diego, Ca.
This book is a quiet little masterpiece, where its author shares his observations of his world in a personal way. With the same light touch, he also delves into the thought structures behind these observations. This is practical scientific philosophy with a folksy, conversational, almost homespun, style that never gets lost in abstractions or strays far from living examples in everyday life. Its lack of academic bluster and techo-pomposity is refreshing and informal, yet the insights have a power that cannot help but affect your own thought processes. An example ( for me) is the classification of all systems into three types: Determinate, Medium-number, and Statistical. This notion has proven to be fantastically useful over the years. Several other observations took some nerve to put into print. The net effect of the book is, at its end, also inspirational. Here is someone showing all of us how we can deal with the big, bad world in a friendly, humourous, courageous, and empowered way.
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I believe this is one of the most important books I've read., March 27, 1998 (Source: Amazon.com)
Reviewer: David F Walter ([email protected]) from Grosse Pointe, Michigan
I have re-read this book at least five times over the past 15 years. At each reading, it stimulates new thoughts and insights on diverse topics. It is a shame this book is out of print. It should be part of the general education curriculum for any college degree.
A reader asks:
>>Please help me understand how your four systems (thinking) books differ, namely:
1 -- An Introduction to General Systems Thinking
2 -- General Principles of Systems Design (with Dani)
3 -- Rethinking Systems Analysis & Design
4 -- QSM Volume 1: Systems Thinking
Of these, I own and have read only the QSM book, but am interested in reading the others. Perhaps your reply might also be useful on the books section of your website, where the short description blurbs of the four books did not suffice to answer the question for me. <<
Jerry
Good question and good suggestion. Here's my best answer:
1 -- An Introduction to General Systems Thinking
2 -- General Principles of Systems Design (with Dani)
are two books, best read in sequence, that give the deep theoretical basis for General Systems Thinking, not specialized to any particular field of application. (It is "general" systems thinking, after all.)
3 -- Rethinking Systems Analysis & Design
contains applications of GST to systems analysis and design, plus some other stuff about SAD.
4 -- QSM Volume 1: Systems Thinking
applies General Systems Thinking to the field of software management. Neither 3 nor 4 cover the whole field of GST, but only applications of some parts of it to some particular fields.
Order any of these four books now from Dorset House Books!
Or from Amazon.com.