BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

CHLADNI FIGURES 2)5)

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Patterns obtained by spontaneous ordering of powder or sand on a metallic vibrating plate.

The powder gathers at the nodal lines and materializes the distribution of the energy induced on the plate by the source of vibrations. Many different patterns can be obtained according to the type of powder used.

A historical antecedent was DESCARTES' magnetic phantom. C. LAVILLE also mentions GUEBHARD experiences showing the possibility to materialize KIRCHOFF's diagrams of equipotential lines of forces in a field through electrolytic deposition. Many different figures can be obtained. It is surely not a coincidence if many of these diagrams show structures quite similar with natural forms in living systems (For example butterfly wings, bone structures, protozooaria, etc…), and also very fundamental processes as in the egg's progressive division in embryology. Structural engineering as for example in bridges materializes the same types of forms.

For many stimulating developments related to the close relations between energy flows, processes and structures, see d'ARCY W. THOMPSON (1916; 1952) and C. LAVILLE (1950).

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]

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