System
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole.[1] A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and is expressed in its functioning. Systems are the subjects of study of systems theory and other systems sciences.
Systems have several common properties and characteristics, including structure, function(s), behavior and interconnectivity.
Etymology
The term system comes from the Latin word systēma, in turn from Greek σύστημα systēma: "whole concept made of several parts or members, system", literary "composition".[2]
History
In the 19th century the French physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, who studied thermodynamics, pioneered the development of the concept of a system in the natural sciences. In 1824 he studied the system which he called the working substance (typically a body of water vapor) in steam engines, in regard to the system's ability to do work when heat is applied to it. The working substance could be put in contact with either a boiler, a cold reservoir (a stream of cold water), or a piston (on which the working body could do work by pushing on it). In 1850, the German physicist Rudolf Clausius generalized this picture to include the concept of the surroundings and began to use the term working body when referring to the system.
The biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy became one of the pioneers of the general systems theory. In 1945 he introduced models, principles, and laws that apply to generalized systems or their subclasses, irrespective of their particular kind, the nature of their component elements, and the relation or 'forces' between them.[3]
In the late 1940s and mid-50s,
In the 1960s
In the 1980s John Henry Holland, Murray Gell-Mann and others coined the term complex adaptive system at the interdisciplinary Santa Fe Institute.
Concepts
Environment and boundaries
Systems theory views the world as a complex system of interconnected parts. One scopes a system by defining its boundary; this means choosing which entities are inside the system and which are outside—part of the environment. One can make simplified representations (models) of the system in order to understand it and to predict or impact its future behavior. These models may define the structure and behavior of the system.
Natural and human-made systems
There are natural and human-made (designed) systems. Natural systems may not have an apparent objective but their behavior can be interpreted as purposeful by an observer. Human-made systems are made with various purposes that are achieved by some action performed by or with the system. The parts of a system must be related; they must be "designed to work as a coherent entity" — otherwise they would be two or more distinct systems.
Theoretical framework
Most systems are
Process and transformation process
An open system can also be viewed as a bounded transformation process, that is, a black box that is a process or collection of processes that transform inputs into outputs. Inputs are consumed; outputs are produced. The concept of input and output here is very broad. For example, an output of a passenger ship is the movement of people from departure to destination.
System model
A system comprises
Systems architecture
A systems architecture, using one single integrated model for the description of multiple views, is a kind of system model.
Subsystem
A subsystem is a set of elements, which is a system itself, and a component of a larger system. The IBM Mainframe Job Entry Subsystem family (
predecessors) are examples. The main elements they have in common are the components that handle input, scheduling, spooling and output; they also have the ability to interact with local and remote operators.A subsystem description is a system object that contains information defining the characteristics of an operating environment controlled by the system.[8] The data tests are performed to verify the correctness of the individual subsystem configuration data (e.g. MA Length, Static Speed Profile, …) and they are related to a single subsystem in order to test its Specific Application (SA).[9]
Analysis
There are many kinds of systems that can be analyzed both
, while artificial systems include man-made physical structures, hybrids of natural and artificial systems, and conceptual knowledge. The human elements of organization and functions are emphasized with their relevant abstract systems and representations.Artificial systems inherently have a major defect: they must be premised on one or more fundamental assumptions upon which additional knowledge is built. This is in strict alignment with Gödel's incompleteness theorems. The Artificial system can be defined as a "consistent formalized system which contains elementary arithmetic".[14] These fundamental assumptions are not inherently deleterious, but they must by definition be assumed as true, and if they are actually false then the system is not as structurally integral as is assumed (i.e. it is evident that if the initial expression is false, then the artificial system is not a "consistent formalized system"). For example, in geometry this is very evident in the postulation of theorems and extrapolation of proofs from them.
Economic system
An economic system is a
The international sphere of interacting states is described and analyzed in systems terms by several international relations scholars, most notably in the
Information and computer science
In computer science and information science, a system is a hardware system, software system, or combination, which has components as its structure and observable inter-process communications as its behavior.
There are systems of counting, as with Roman numerals, and various systems for filing papers, or catalogs, and various library systems, of which the Dewey Decimal Classification is an example. This still fits with the definition of components that are connected together (in this case to facilitate the flow of information).
System can also refer to a framework, aka
Engineering and physics
In engineering and physics, a physical system is the portion of the universe that is being studied (of which a thermodynamic system is one major example). Engineering also has the concept of a system referring to all of the parts and interactions between parts of a complex project. Systems engineering is the branch of engineering that studies how this type of system should be planned, designed, implemented, built, and maintained.[17]
Sociology, cognitive science and management research
Social and cognitive sciences recognize systems in models of individual humans and in human societies. They include human brain functions and mental processes as well as normative ethics systems and social and cultural behavioral patterns.
In
Pure logic
There is also such a thing as a
Strategic thinking
In 1988, military strategist,
In the late 1990s, Warden applied his model to business strategy.See also
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References
- ^ "Definition of system". Merriam-Webster. Springfield, MA, USA. Archived from the original on 2017-06-05. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
- ^ "σύστημα" Archived 2021-01-28 at the Wayback Machine, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus Digits Library.
- ^ 1945, Zu einer allgemeinen Systemlehre, Blätter für deutsche Philosophie, 3/4. (Extract in: Biologia Generalis, 19 (1949), 139–164.
- ^ 1948, Cybernetics: Or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Paris, France: Librairie Hermann & Cie, and Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- ^ 1956. An Introduction to Cybernetics Archived 2023-05-17 at the Wayback Machine, Chapman & Hall.
- ISBN 978-1-58423-073-1.
- ISBN 978-1-58423-070-0.
- ^ IBM's definition[permanent dead link]
- ^ European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) - EN 50128. Brussels, Belgium: CENELEC. 2011. pp. Table A.11 – Data Préparation Techniques (8.4).
- ^ Steiss, 1967, pp. 8–18.
- ^ Bailey, 1994.
- ^ Buckley, 1967.
- ^ Banathy, 1997.
- ^ K.Gödel, 1931
- ^ Klir, 1969, pp. 69–72
- ^ Checkland, 1997; Flood, 1999.
- ^ a b "ISTQB Standard glossary of terms used in Software Testing". Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
- ISBN 9780385260947.
- ^ "A New Story for a New Time". Retrieved 2024-03-12.
- ISBN 978-1-58348-100-4.
- ^ Warden, John A. III (September 1995). "Chapter 4: Air theory for the 21st century". Battlefield of the Future: 21st Century Warfare Issues. United States Air Force. Archived from the original (in Air and Space Power Journal) on July 4, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
- ^ Warden, John A. III (1995). "Enemy as a System". Airpower Journal. Spring (9): 40–55. Archived from the original on 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
Bibliography
- Alexander Backlund (2000). "The definition of system". In: Kybernetes Vol. 29 nr. 4, pp. 444–451.
- Kenneth D. Bailey (1994). Sociology and the New Systems Theory: Toward a Theoretical Synthesis. New York: State of New York Press.
- Bela H. Banathy (1997). "A Taste of Systemics", ISSS The Primer Project.
- Walter F. Buckley (1967). Sociology and Modern Systems Theory, New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs.
- Peter Checkland (1997). Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- Michel Crozier, Erhard Friedberg (1981). Actors and Systems, Chicago University Press.
- Robert L. Flood (1999). Rethinking the Fifth Discipline: Learning within the unknowable. London: Routledge.
- George J. Klir(1969). Approach to General Systems Theory, 1969.
- Brian Wilson (1980). Systems: Concepts, methodologies and Applications, John Wiley
- Brian Wilson (2001). Soft Systems Methodology—Conceptual model building and its contribution, J.H.Wiley.
- Beynon-Davies P. (2009). Business Information + Systems. Palgrave, Basingstoke. ISBN 978-0-230-20368-6
External links
- Definitions of Systems and Models by Michael Pidwirny, 1999–2007.
- Publications with the title "System" (1600–2008) by Roland Müller.
- Definitionen von "System" (1572–2002) by Roland Müller, (most in German).