---
title: "Systems science"
chunk: 1/1
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_science"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:57:06.307255+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Systems science, also referred to as systems research or simply systems, is a transdisciplinary field that is concerned with understanding simple and complex systems in nature and society, which leads to the advancements of formal, natural, social, and applied attributions throughout engineering, technology, and science itself.
To systems scientists, the world can be understood as a system of systems. The field aims to develop transdisciplinary foundations that are applicable in a variety of areas, such as psychology, biology, medicine, communication, business, technology, computer science, engineering, and social sciences.
Themes commonly stressed in system science are (a) holistic view, (b) interaction between a system and its embedding environment, and (c) complex (often subtle) trajectories of dynamic behavior that sometimes are stable (and thus reinforcing), while at various 'boundary conditions' can become wildly unstable (and thus destructive). Concerns about Earth-scale biosphere/geosphere dynamics is an example of the nature of problems to which systems science seeks to contribute meaningful insights.


== Associated fields ==
The systems sciences are a broad array of fields. One way of conceiving of these is in three groups: fields that have developed systems ideas primarily through theory; those that have done so primarily through practical engagements with problem situations; and those that have applied ideas for other disciplines.


=== Theoretical fields ===


==== Chaos and dynamical systems ====


==== Complexity ====


==== Control theory ====

Affect control theory
Control engineering
Control systems


==== Cybernetics ====

Autopoiesis
Conversation theory
Engineering cybernetics
Perceptual control theory
Management cybernetics
Second-order cybernetics
Cyber-physical system
Artificial intelligence
Synthetic intelligence


==== Information theory ====


==== General systems theory ====

Systems theory in anthropology
Biochemical systems theory
Ecological systems theory
Developmental systems theory
General systems theory
Living systems theory
LTI system theory
Social systems
Sociotechnical systems theory
Mathematical system theory
World-systems theory


==== Hierarchy Theory ====


=== Practical fields ===


==== Critical systems thinking ====


==== Operations research and management science ====


==== Soft systems methodology ====

The soft systems methodology was developed in England by academics at the University of Lancaster Systems Department through a ten-year action research programme. The main contributor is Peter Checkland (born 18 December 1930, in Birmingham, UK), a British management scientist and emeritus professor of systems at Lancaster University.


==== Systems analysis ====

Systems analysis branch of systems science that analyzes systems, the interactions within those systems, or interaction with its environment, often prior to their automation as computer models. Systems analysis is closely associated with the RAND corporation.


==== Systemic design ====

Systemic design integrates methodologies from systems thinking with advanced design practices to address complex, multi-stakeholder situations.


==== Systems dynamics ====

System dynamics is an approach to understanding the behavior of complex systems over time. It offers "simulation technique for modeling business and social systems", which deals with internal feedback loops and time delays that affect the behavior of the entire system.  What makes using system dynamics different from other approaches to studying complex systems is the use of feedback loops and stocks and flows.


==== Systems engineering ====

Systems engineering (SE) is an interdisciplinary field of engineering, that focuses on the development and organization of complex systems. It is the "art and science of creating whole solutions to complex problems",  for example: signal processing systems, control systems and communication system, or other forms of high-level modelling and design in specific fields of engineering. Systems Science is foundational to the Embedded Software Development that is founded in the embedded requirements of Systems Engineering.
Aerospace systems
Biological systems engineering
Earth systems engineering and management
Electronic systems
Enterprise systems engineering
Software systems
Systems analysis


=== Applications in other disciplines ===


==== Earth system science ====

Climate systems
Systems geology


==== Systems biology ====

Computational systems biology
Synthetic biology
Systems immunology
Systems neuroscience


==== Systems chemistry ====


==== Systems ecology ====

Ecosystem ecology
Agroecology


==== Systems psychology ====

Ergonomics
Family systems theory
Systemic therapy


== See also ==


== References ==


== Further reading ==
B. A. Bayraktar (1979). Education in Systems Science. p. 369.
Kenneth D. Bailey, "Fifty Years of Systems Science:Further Reflections", Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 22, 2005, pp. 355–361. doi:10.1002/sres.711
Robert L. Flood, Ewart R Carson, Dealing with Complexity: An Introduction to the Theory and Application of Systems Science (2nd Edition), 1993.
George J. Klir, Facets of Systems Science (2nd Edition), Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2001.
Ervin László, Systems Science and World Order: Selected Studies, 1983.
G. E. Mobus & M. C. Kalton, Principles of Systems Science, 2015, New York:Springer.
Anatol Rapoport (ed.), General Systems: Yearbook of the Society for the Advancement of General Systems Theory, Society for General Systems Research, Vol 1., 1956.
Li D. Xu, "The contributions of Systems Science to Information Systems Research", Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 17, 2000, pp. 105–116.
Graeme Donald Snooks, "A general theory of complex living systems: Exploring the demand side of dynamics", Complexity, vol. 13, no. 6, July/August 2008.
John N. Warfield,  "A proposal for Systems Science", Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 20, 2003, pp. 507–520. doi:10.1002/sres.528
Michael C. Jackson, Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity, 2019, Wiley.


== External links ==

Principia Cybernetica Web
International Federation for Systems Research
Institute of System Science Knowledge (ISSK.org)
International Society for the System Sciences
American Society for Cybernetics
UK Systems Society
Cybernetics Society