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

LOGARITHMS: Their use in information theory 5)

Dual logarithms (i.e. to base 2) are a measure of the number of binary decisions (BITS = binary digits) needed to suppress uncertainty in a situation.

Log2N also measures ASHBY's variety, as indicating the number of succesive choices to be made in order to obtain a precise distinction. ASHBY gives the following example: "What is the variety in bits of the 26 letters of the alphabet?" The reply is 4,7 bits. i.e. in practice 5 successive choices to be made to completely determine the position of one specified letter within the English alphabet, using yes or no answers to questions like: Is it in the first half of the alphabet? Is it in the 2nd half of the first half? etc.

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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