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

GROWTH REGULATION 1)

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Numerous authors have observed that growth is in general in no way an anarchical phenomenon in systems.

The most frequent model is logistic growth.

C. WADDINGTON, for example, showed that growth goes with fluctuations around a basic trend, within a kind of guiding channel which he called a "chreod".

However the precise mechanism and fundamental cause of growth regulation are still ill understood.

All systems seem to count with internal norms relative to their global and maximal dimensions as well as those of their different subsystems. But it is quite difficult to pinpoint the elements or groups of elements which are the bearers of these norms and how they command their more or less strict observance.

Moreover, while fluctuations are a result of the need to maintain the global and local equilibria of internal structures and functions, they are also correlated to environmental variations, significant for the system (as for example the seasonal growth of plants or the acceleration or decelaration due to climatic variations).

See for ex.: Circadian rhythms

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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