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The principles or processes in a complicated system might include the application of physics, chemistry, botany, hydrology, engineering, and many other physical
and life sciences, as well as the application of social sciences applied to human
beings, social organizations, and societies which operate under various economic,
political, and sociocultural rules.
For FEW systems, these principles and processes of “system science” are applied
to the sources, movements, transformations, uses, and sinks of food, energy, and
water—a combination of the functioning of the biophysical world and the demands
and impacts of the social world.
Engineering, in particular, is the discipline that focuses on the quantitative analysis, optimization, and control of real-world systems, including the infrastructure
underlying FEW systems. Historically, engineering has focused on complicated
systems, not complex systems, but this is changing presently.
Applied areas within the social sciences (psychology, economics, political science, sociology, anthropology) focus on the analysis, optimization, and management of real-world human-based systems.
System science is the scientific study of a unified whole composed of many parts:
1. It is defined by some unifying identity or macroscopic framework (e.g., food,
energy, or water).
2. It exists within certain boundaries of space, time, or institution.
3. It relates to external or exogenous factors or “forcings” (e.g., sources and sinks
of matter or energy and drivers) that may be parts of other systems (e.g., the
climate system interacting with a water system).
4. It has structural relationships or “networks of relationships” among its parts
(e.g., the relationship of water flows between rainfall, reservoirs, aqueducts, and
consumers) and between its parts and external systems. Structure establishes
the potential for function and the pathways of functional interaction.
5. It has internal or endogenous functional relationships between the parts which
are governed by natural and anthropogenic principles or processes (laws of thermodynamics, economics, engineering of infrastructure, public policy, etc.).
Function is distinct from, and constrained by, structure. Function is what matters,
but structure enables function. Infrastructure is structure while commodity flow
is function.
6. It often involves agents that are not entirely rational or predictable.
7. It changes dynamically in response to external and internal interactions.
8. It may be described over space and time by mathematical models which attempt
to recognize and incorporate all crucial factors.
The objective of system science is to understand the entire system holistically,
and with as much precision as needed for purposes of analysis and decision-making
(i.e., excess detail can be ignored). At the very least, system science is needed to
establish the nature of the system (simple, complicated, complex) so that the limits
of its predictability can be clearly understood.
How a system is defined and studied is usually shaped by balancing important
human dimensions, e.g., the scale and boundary of the decision-making process or
2 Systems Science
The principles or processes in a complicated system might include the application of physics, chemistry, botany, hydrology, engineering, and many other physical
and life sciences, as well as the application of social sciences applied to human
beings, social organizations, and societies which operate under various economic,
political, and sociocultural rules.
For FEW systems, these principles and processes of “system science” are applied
to the sources, movements, transformations, uses, and sinks of food, energy, and
water—a combination of the functioning of the biophysical world and the demands
and impacts of the social world.
Engineering, in particular, is the discipline that focuses on the quantitative analysis, optimization, and control of real-world systems, including the infrastructure
underlying FEW systems. Historically, engineering has focused on complicated
systems, not complex systems, but this is changing presently.
Applied areas within the social sciences (psychology, economics, political science, sociology, anthropology) focus on the analysis, optimization, and management of real-world human-based systems.
System science is the scientific study of a unified whole composed of many parts:
1. It is defined by some unifying identity or macroscopic framework (e.g., food,
energy, or water).
2. It exists within certain boundaries of space, time, or institution.
3. It relates to external or exogenous factors or “forcings” (e.g., sources and sinks
of matter or energy and drivers) that may be parts of other systems (e.g., the
climate system interacting with a water system).
4. It has structural relationships or “networks of relationships” among its parts
(e.g., the relationship of water flows between rainfall, reservoirs, aqueducts, and
consumers) and between its parts and external systems. Structure establishes
the potential for function and the pathways of functional interaction.
5. It has internal or endogenous functional relationships between the parts which
are governed by natural and anthropogenic principles or processes (laws of thermodynamics, economics, engineering of infrastructure, public policy, etc.).
Function is distinct from, and constrained by, structure. Function is what matters,
but structure enables function. Infrastructure is structure while commodity flow
is function.
6. It often involves agents that are not entirely rational or predictable.
7. It changes dynamically in response to external and internal interactions.
8. It may be described over space and time by mathematical models which attempt
to recognize and incorporate all crucial factors.
The objective of system science is to understand the entire system holistically,
and with as much precision as needed for purposes of analysis and decision-making
(i.e., excess detail can be ignored). At the very least, system science is needed to
establish the nature of the system (simple, complicated, complex) so that the limits
of its predictability can be clearly understood.
How a system is defined and studied is usually shaped by balancing important
human dimensions, e.g., the scale and boundary of the decision-making process or
2 Systems Science