Bertalanffy L. von. General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications

New York: George Braziller Inc., 1984. — 289 p. — ISBN: 9780807604526, 0807604526.A groundbreaking book which came out for almost half a century ago with the aim to propose a world view in systems perspective, and show how general system-theoretical approaches could be applied in different fields of human science and technology. An attempt to formulate common laws that apply to virtually every scientific field, this conceptual approach has had a profound impact on such widely diverse disciplines as biology, economics, psychology, and demography.
Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy (September 19, 1901, Atzgersdorf near Vienna – June 12, 1972, Buffalo, New York) was an Austrian-born biologist known as one of the founders of general systems theory (GST). GST is an interdisciplinary practice that describes systems with interacting components, applicable to biology, cybernetics, and other fields. Bertalanffy proposed that the classical laws of thermodynamics applied to closed systems, but not necessarily to "open systems," such as living things. His mathematical model of an organism's growth over time, published in 1934, is still in use today.
Von Bertalanffy grew up in Austria and subsequently worked in Vienna, London, Canada and the USA.The Meaning of General System Theory.
Some System Concepts in Elementary Mathematical.
Advances in General System Theory.
The Organism Considered as Physical System.
The Model of Open System.
Some Aspects of System Theory in Biology.
The System Concept in the Sciences of Man.
General System Theory in Psychology and Psychiatry.
The Relativity of Categories.
Notes on Developments in Mathematical System Theory.
The Meaning and Unity of Science.Suggestions for Further Reading.