33
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. Saundry, B. L. Ruddell (eds.), The Food-Energy-Water Nexus, AESS
Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Sciences Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29914-9_2
Chapter 2
Systems Science
Peter Saundry and Benjamin L. Ruddell
2.1 Introduction to Systems Science
A system is a set of things connected in a way that creates some unified whole. The
nature of a system is, to some degree, simple, complicated, or complex. This distinction between “complicated” and “complex” is important and subtle and is
addressed below (Sect. 1.4.2).
Simple systems typically have a small number of parts with usually linear
“cause–effect” interactions between the parts. For example, imagine a system of
pulleys connected by a rope where a force pulling on the rope turns one pulley and
then additional pulleys in a linear succession through the simple application of force
imparted through friction between the rope and the pulleys. As an output, one of the
pulleys is attached to a weight and lifts that weight. If the pulleys are suitably
arranged, an applied input force moving the rope a considerable distance can result
in a much larger force moving the weight a much shorter distance. This simple system operates under the application of physics to a small number of parts. There is an
independent variable X (or a small number of independent variables), a dependent
variable Y, and changes in X explain changes in Y through some function Y = f(X).
Simple systems have clear boundaries and are fundamentally predictable without
much effort (if you know the calculus).
P. Saundry (*)
Energy Policy and Climate, Advanced Academic Programs, Krieger School of Arts
and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA
e-mail: psaundr1@jhu.edu
B. L. Ruddell
School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University,
Flagstaff, AZ, USA
e-mail: Benjamin.Ruddell@nau.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. Saundry, B. L. Ruddell (eds.), The Food-Energy-Water Nexus, AESS
Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Sciences Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29914-9_2
Chapter 2
Systems Science
Peter Saundry and Benjamin L. Ruddell
2.1 Introduction to Systems Science
A system is a set of things connected in a way that creates some unified whole. The
nature of a system is, to some degree, simple, complicated, or complex. This distinction between “complicated” and “complex” is important and subtle and is
addressed below (Sect. 1.4.2).
Simple systems typically have a small number of parts with usually linear
“cause–effect” interactions between the parts. For example, imagine a system of
pulleys connected by a rope where a force pulling on the rope turns one pulley and
then additional pulleys in a linear succession through the simple application of force
imparted through friction between the rope and the pulleys. As an output, one of the
pulleys is attached to a weight and lifts that weight. If the pulleys are suitably
arranged, an applied input force moving the rope a considerable distance can result
in a much larger force moving the weight a much shorter distance. This simple system operates under the application of physics to a small number of parts. There is an
independent variable X (or a small number of independent variables), a dependent
variable Y, and changes in X explain changes in Y through some function Y = f(X).
Simple systems have clear boundaries and are fundamentally predictable without
much effort (if you know the calculus).
P. Saundry (*)
Energy Policy and Climate, Advanced Academic Programs, Krieger School of Arts
and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA
e-mail: psaundr1@jhu.edu
B. L. Ruddell
School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University,
Flagstaff, AZ, USA
e-mail: Benjamin.Ruddell@nau.edu