Book Description
For more than twenty-five years, An Introduction to General Systems Thinking has been hailed as an innovative introduction to systems theory, with applications in computer science and beyond. Used in university courses and professional seminars all over the world, the text has proven its ability to open minds and sharpen thinking.
Originally published in 1975 and reprinted more than twenty times over a quarter century -- and now available for the first time from Dorset House Publishing -- the text uses clear writing and basic algebraic principles to explore new approaches to projects, products, organizations, and virtually any kind of system.
Scientists, engineers, organization leaders, managers, doctors, students, and thinkers of all disciplines can use this book to dispel the mental fog that clouds problem-solving. As author Gerald M. Weinberg writes in the new preface to the Silver Anniversary Edition, "I haven't changed my conviction that most people don't think nearly as well as they could had they been taught some principles of thinking.”
Now an award-winning author of nearly forty books spanning the entire software development life cycle, Weinberg had already acquired extensive experience as a programmer, manager, university professor, and consultant when this book was originally published.
With helpful illustrations, numerous end-of-chapter exercises, and an appendix on a mathematical notation used in problem-solving, An Introduction to General Systems Thinking may be your most powerful tool in working with problems, systems, and solutions.
Customer Reviews:
Weinberg's Introduction to Systems Thinking.......2007-01-04
Weinberg's book will not teach you how to be a systems thinker. It will, however, provide a stimulating discussion and thoughtful examination of an alternative approach to problem analysis and solution. The book is not so much about how the systems approach works or how it can be applied to complex problems as it is an invitation to his readers to explore their perceptions of what they think they know versus what they really do know. Throughout the book, Weinberg follows the strategy of leading the reader through a series of logical discussions designed to bring them face to face with their biases and misconceptions about systems vs. reductionist thinking. In doing so, Weinberg exposes the shortcomings of the reductionist approach to problem solving by demonstrating to his readers that the real solutions to some familiar and apparently simple problems are very complex.
Through his examples, Weinberg shows that by viewing a system holistically within its environment, we may be able to discern patterns of behavior/actions and recognize interactions, interrelationships, and interdependencies among the components that will be missed in a reductionist approach. From that view, we can better understand the system and, perhaps, better predict how it will evolve over time. The success of his approach is demonstrated by the fact that people are still reading and quoting his book 25+ years after it was written.
One facet of this book which I found beneficial may be a drawback for some readers. Weinberg wrote from the viewpoint of a computer programmer and a scientist. A person not versed in either field might have difficulty understanding his examples.
Outstanding book.......2006-02-17
This book is excellent. I first read this book in graduate school in 1976, and I continue to find Weinberg's ideas useful. It was outstanding then, and it has held up with time.
not quite an alternative to 'Systems Thinking'.......2005-09-17
I was searching for an alternative to the out-of-print book 'Quality Software Management, vol.1: Systems Thinking', written by the same Author.
Having read few Sofware Management series books from the same Author, which I rate at the very top of my list, I was biased on very high expectations. Surprisingly, I have found it being quite verbose and in the end, I couldn't get too much inspiration out of it.
An excellent introduction..........2002-06-05
Weinberg distills the essence from von Bertalanffy's classic and manages to present it in a very accessible fashion. The book has been out of print for quite a while so it is great to see a new edition. The message and information contained in here, although originally published in 1975, is now more relevant than ever.
Weinberg covers many aspects of systems theory beginning with the main stumbling block with the present scientific paradigm: the idea that the universe is mechanistic. His treatment is much more general than Robert Rosen's in "Life Itself" but still conveys why the mechanistic notion is flawed.
He then outlines the general systems theory approach before leading into the idea that a system is simply a way of looking at the world. He then outlines the principle of indifference. This leads straight into two sections outlining various aspects of making observations. Finally he discusses behaviour and then some general systems questions.
Throughout the book he uses many examples from disparate fields in conjunction with questions for further research. It is great to see someone who doesn't preach systems but actually uses the ideas.
Definitely a must-read as we decided how to solve the myriad of issues before us.
A true classic in how humans set and solve problems.......2001-03-23
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.
Average customer rating:
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Changing Agriculture: An Introduction to Systems Thinking
Jim Wilson
Manufacturer: Kangaroo Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0864174896 |
Book Description
Systems thinking is the crucial "fifth discipline" of organizational learning. Discover how its perspective, language, and tools can dramatically strenghten our ability to grasp complexity. An excellent primer for the field.
Customer Reviews:
weLEAD Book Review from leadingtoday.org.......2004-12-22
Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (Doubleday, 1990) says "systems thinking" is the fifth discipline of learning organizations. But what exactly is meant by "systems thinking"? This concise, twenty-page publication, which is a part of the Innovations In Management Series from Pegasus Communications, is an excellent place to obtain an introduction to the world of systems thinking, including why systems thinking is important to leaders and managers in companies trying to become learning organizations.
Daniel Kim, the author of Introduction to Systems Thinking, is co-founder of Pegasus Communications Inc., and co-founder of the MIT Center for Organizational Learning. He is a trustee of the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL), and is the author of a number of publications dealing with systems thinking.
We hear the word "system" used all the time, but what exactly is a system, and what is meant by systemic behavior? This to-the-point publication explains these terms, compares "systems" to "collections", and shows how one might convert a collection into a system. It illuminates the importance of identifying a systems purpose, and briefly explains how both physical and intangible systemic structures generate patterns and events. It further explains how our tendency as human beings is to see events (and possibly patterns from a number of similar events) yet remain unaware of the systemic structures and processes that are actually generating these events. By closely examining systemic behavior and redesigning systems, the author shows how we can shift from simply reacting to events to more proactive behavior.
Finally, this brief introduction explains reinforcing and balancing processes, feedback, delay, flow, stock, and leverage points. It introduces the reader to a number of important tools used in systems thinking such as the Behavior Over Time (BOT) Graph, the Causal Loop Diagram (CLD), and Systems Archetypes-the common patterns and structures that occur repeatedly in different system settings.
If you are interested in learning how to identify and solve real problems rather than just treating apparent problems, then this brief introduction to systems thinking may be just the right place to start you on your learning.
Review By Dr. J. Howard Baker
Good introduction but pricey.......1999-12-23
Good, clear introduction to systems thinking but there are much better values out there (eg Systems Thinking: Managing Chaos and Compexity or Peter Senge's books). Would be useful in a seminar or classroom setting but I have to say I was very disappointed when it arrived (at that time the page information was not listed on Amazon). Maybe if it was packaged with some of the other systems thinking booklets produced by Pegasus I would have been more satisfied. If you are really interested in the topic ... is a very good resource.
Book Description
Besides giving readers the techniques for solving polynomial equations and congruences, An Introduction to Mathematical Thinking provides preparation for understanding more advanced topics in Linear and Modern Algebra, as well as Calculus. This book introduces proofs and mathematical thinking while teaching basic algebraic skills involving number systems, including the integers and complex numbers. Ample questions at the end of each chapter provide opportunities for learning and practice; the Exercises are routine applications of the material in the chapter, while the Problems require more ingenuity, ranging from easy to nearly impossible. Topics covered in this comprehensive introduction range from logic and proofs, integers and diophantine equations, congruences, induction and binomial theorem, rational and real numbers, and functions and bijections to cryptography, complex numbers, and polynomial equations. With its comprehensive appendices, this book is an excellent desk reference for mathematicians and those involved in computer science.
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An Introduction to Systems Thinking - Ithink
Manufacturer: High Performance Systems Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Languages & Tools
| Programming
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0970492103 |
Product Description
Students explore factors and multiples of 100; 1,000; and 10,000; solve problems and puzzles that involve building numbers in different ways, such as skip counting, multiplying factor pairs together, and creating expressions with the four basic operations; find factor pairs of multiples of 100 up to 1,000 and factor pairs of 10,000; and use relationships among landmark numbers up to 10,000 to develop computation problem-solving strategies involving the four basic operations. Includes tasks for assessing students' thinking and reasoning about number and computation.
Book Description
In the seven years since the publication of the first edition of Wall Street, America's financial industry has undergone a series of wrenching events that have dramatically changed the nation's economic landscape. The bull market of the 1990's came to a close, ushering in the end of the dot com boom, a record number of mergers occurred, and accounting scandals in companies like Enron and WorldCom shook the financial industry to its core. In this wide-ranging volume, financial historian Charles Geisst provides the first history of Wall Street, explaining how a small, concentrated pocket of lower Manhattan came to have such enormous influence in national and world affairs. In this updated edition, Geisst sums up the recent turbulence that has threatened America's financial industry. He shows how in 1997 thirty NASDAQ market makers paid a record $1.3 billion fine for price irregularities in stocks. He makes sense of the closing of the bull market, and explains a major change in the accounting rules for mergers that caused monumental losses for companies like AOL Time Warner. And he recounts how in the aftermath of the speculative fever that swept Wall Street in the 1990's, the scandals at Enron, Tyco, Worldcom, and Conseco represent a last gasp of mergermania and a fallout from a bubble-like market. Wall Street is at once the story of the street itself, from the days when the wall was merely a defensive barricade built by Peter Stuyvesant, to the modern billion-dollar computer-driven colossus of today. In a broader sense it is an engaging economic history of the United States, the role Wall Street played in making America the most powerful economy in the world, and the many challenges to that role it has faced in recent years.
Customer Reviews:
Comprehensive book on the history of Wall Street.......2006-07-04
This comprehensive book provides a wealth of detail about the origins and history of the financial institutions, private and public, that underpin Wall Street and the economy of the United States - and therefore, to an extent, much of the rest of the world. Author Charles R. Geisst presents a detailed discussion of the contest between the forces of libertarianism and regulation. Detail is both the strength and the weakness of this book. Often, the author has trouble organizing it all, and the book would have benefited from a stricter editor to help distill the "story" in this history. Despite such problems, however, the factual basis is rich and intriguing. We believe that readers interested in U.S. financial history, especially those in the investment and financial services industries, will want to read this book.
Product Description
A fictional work chronicling the meetings of the "enthusiastic dilettanti" wanting to form the "Metropolitan Society of Bewildered Querists," in order to discuss various topics, including euphemisms, sloth, women's worth, and more.
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An Economic Querist
G. L. S. Shackle
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
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Theory
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
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ASIN: 0521201888 |
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The Querist
George Berkeley
Manufacturer: Echo Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1846378990 |
Book Description
The Querist Containing Several Queries Proposed to the Consideration of the Public
Download Description
As the sum of human happiness is supposed to consist in the goods of mind, body, and fortune, I would fain make my studies of some use to mankind with regard to each of these three particulars, and hope it will not be thought faulty or indecent in any man, of what profession soever, to offer his mite towards improving the manners, health, and prosperity of his fellow-creatures.
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The Querist
George Berkeley
Manufacturer: IndyPublish.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Economic History
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1414283199 |
Average customer rating:
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Querist
George Berkeley
Manufacturer: Hard Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1406926523
Release Date: 2006-11-03 |
Average customer rating:
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The Querist
George Berkley
Manufacturer: IndyPublish
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Economic Conditions
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Economic History
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Economic Conditions
| International
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1435341074 |
Average customer rating:
- Useful, but Woefully Outdated
- Marketer's Guide
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The Marketer's Guide to Public Relations: How Today's Top Companies Are Using the New Pr to Gain a Competitive Edge
Thomas L. Harris
Manufacturer: Diane Books Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
| Agricultural
| Commercial Policy
| Comparative
| Consolidation & Merger
| Cooperatives
| Debt & Deficits
| Development & Growth
| Econometrics
| Economic Conditions
| Economic History
| Economic Policy & Development
| Exports & Imports
| Free Enterprise
| Inflation
| International
| Labor & Industrial Relations
| Macroeconomics
| Microeconomics
| Money & Monetary Policy
| Natural Resources
| Privatization
| Public Finance
| Statistics
| Sustainable Development
| Theory
| Unemployment
| Urban & Regional
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0788150677 |
Book Description
The Marketer's Guide to Public Relations How Today's Top Companies Are Using the New PR to Gain a Competitive Edge "Tom Harris has done more than anyone else to explain how public relations should be an important element in the marketing process. Every marketer should read this book." —Joe Cappo, Vice President/Publisher Advertising Age "Tom Harris might well be consumer marketing management's next folk hero. His book provides a wealth of information that will be useful to consumer marketing executives and public relations professionals alike." —Harold Burson, Chairman Burson Marsteller "Tom Harris illustrates how companies can gain competitive advantages in the vicious marketing climate of the 1990s while reducing costs. This book will be must reading at business schools like Chicago, Stanford, and Harvard." —Robert L. Dilenschneider, President The Dilenschneider Group "It's all here: what to do and what not to do, checklists and case histories, even crisis management and minority marketing. Best of all, it's projected through the experience of a true professional in marketing PR. All you need is this book and a client." —John O'Toole, President American Association of Advertising Agencies "I just could't stop reading Tom's book. It's right on the money and demonstrates clearly, comprehensively, and scientifically the critical role that public relations plays in marketing consumer products—and shows why it's going to be increasingly important in the future." —Daniel J. Edelman, Chairman and CEO Daniel J. Edelman, Inc.
Customer Reviews:
Useful, but Woefully Outdated.......2002-08-22
Thomas Harris enjoys a well-respected reputation in the public relations industry. The Marketer's Guide to Public Relations is an excellent example of why. Relying on clear writing and numerous case histories and examples, Harris never fails to demonstrate the value of a good public relations campaign to any marketing department. Nonetheless, the work is nearly a decade old. Given the tumult of the 90s, one needs an updated edition. I found using Michael Levine's Guerrilla PR: Wired to be quite useful in that regard, covering how to use the Internet for an effective public relations campaign. Still, I hope to see a book by Harris that fully delves deep into the merging worlds of the Internet and public relations in the near future.
Marketer's Guide.......2002-08-12
This book shows haw companies use strategies to wage effective PR campaigns. The real life examples show how classroom techniques translate into actuality. This book, along with Michael Levine's Guerilla PR Wired, are both must-haves for anyone entering in the world of PR.
Books:
- Iso/Qs 9000 Yearbook 1998
- Japanese Business into the 21st Century
- Kaizen: The Key To Japan's Competitive Success
- Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning: A Reader (Oxford Management Readers)
- Linear Measures: Essentials of Statistic Management
- Little Instr Bk-Business Etiqu:
- Macrologistics Management - A Catalyst for Organizational Change.(Review) (book reviews): An article from: Transportation Journal
- Making the Cisco Connection: The Story Behind the Real Internet Superpower
- Management Responses to Public Issues: Concepts and Cases in Strategy Formulation (3rd Edition)
- Managing Activism: A Guide to Dealing with Activists and Pressure Groups
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