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

EMERGY 1)

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"The total amount of energy embodied in the creation of some thing or conditions, and bringing it into a certain place, state, and time".

This neologism has been introduced by H.T. ODUM. (1988, 1991)

Another definition given by D.R. TILLEY, of Environmental Engineering Department of University of Florida reads: "A system property that related all flows and storage of energy, materials and information to the one form of source energy required for their formation and maintenance"(1998, p. 178)

According to this definition, it becomes possible to use "emergy accounting as a rigorously quantitative tool for valuing and comparing the work of nature with that of humans"(Ibid)

The idea that nature is "working" and in fact leaving its products at our disposal for free is generally ignored in economics. As a result, we are plundering nature's ecosystems. Without making any distinction between capital and "interest". There is a wide misunderstanding of the need to respect self-maintenance of nature as a bedrock base for the dynamic stability of our own socio-economic systems.

The concept seems very important, because in many cases a quite significant part of the energy indirectly used up in a productive process is left out of economic evaluation.

MACHLUP and PIMENTEL have shown that many products – particularly agricultural ones – are heavily subsidized in energy terms and, finally produce a clearcut energy deficit, i. e. do not compensate the energetic investment involved. (1977).

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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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