A 2023 book by Martin Zwick, a professor in Portland State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, offers an accessible introduction for anyone interested in systems science.
For those unfamiliar with it, systems science is an interdisciplinary field that examines the behavior of complex systems (which can be anything from an ant colony, to an ecosystem, to the global climate) – anything with so many interacting parts that the whole system exhibits properties that cannot be understood by examining only individual components.
The field can be daunting at first glance, which is why readers might be interested in Elements and Relations: Aspects of a Scientific Metaphysics. The book makes the ideas and concepts accessible to readers who do not have advanced knowledge in mathematics.
Why is this beneficial? An understanding of systems science can illuminate and augment the theories of the natural and social sciences and inform practice in fields such as engineering and public health.
Zwick, the book's author, has been teaching and doing research in the Systems Science PhD program at PSU since 1976. He describes systems science as a "theory of everything" that can provide novel and deep ideas for any field.
"The book offers a useful framework for thinking about anything, from education, to public health, to the reasons why a couple broke up. If a person does not like abstract thought or math or diagrams, this book is not for them, but if a person is open to verbal abstractions, mathematical ideas, or diagrams as a way of thinking, this book can be a source of many new and valuable insights," Zwick said.
From the Elements and Relations Springer site:
The book develops the core proposition that systems theory is an attempt to construct an “exact and scientific metaphysics,” a system of general ideas central to science that can be expressed mathematically.
Inherently transdisciplinary, systems theory offers ideas and methods that are relevant to all of the sciences and also to professional fields such as systems engineering, public policy, business, and social work. To demonstrate the generality and importance of the systems project, the book structures its content in three parts: Essay, Notes, and Commentary.
The Essay section is a short distillation of systems ideas that illuminate the problems that many types of systems face. Commentary explains systems thinking, its value, and its relation to mainstream scientific knowledge. It shows how systems ideas revise our understanding of science and how they impact our views on religion, politics, and history. Finally, Notes contains all the mathematics in the book, as well as scientific, philosophical, and poetic content that is accessible to readers without a strong mathematical background.
Elements and Relations is intended for researchers and students in the field of systems complexity as well as the related fields of social science modeling, systems biology and ecology, and cognitive science. It can be used as a textbook in systems courses at the undergraduate or graduate level and for STEM education.
Since much of the book does not require a background in mathematics, it is also suitable for general readers who are interested in the natural and social sciences as well as in the humanities, especially philosophy.
Access the book at the above link or here, and explore more publications by Zwick on his PSU website or on BePress.