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.

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POWER PRINCIPLE (Maximum) 2)4)

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"Natural systems tend to operate at that efficiency which produces a maximum power output. his efficiency is always less than the maximum efficiency" (H.T. ODUM and R.C. PINKERTON, 1955, p.331-343).

J. MILLER comments: "(Following ODUM) a major design principle of natural systems is feedback from storage to energy inflow pathways. This stimulates energic inflow and functions as reward. In this way, processes that are doing useful work are reinforced. Such feedback designs are autocatalytic. They maximize power, consequently generating more entropy Autocatalytic processes depend upon sufficient concentration of potential energy – energy available for doing work. If the energy source is weak, the system minimizes energy flow and entropy generation. The maximum power principle suggest that natural selection operates to select systems designs that maximize power. Systems compete for available energy.

"Systems of this sort develop hierarchies with successive transformations of energy in which energy increases in "quality" as units increase in size" (1986, p.78).

ODUM discovered the principle studying ecosystems. It fits, however, nicely human systems throughout the whole technological evolution of mankind. The principle looks like a good explanation for the general phenomenon of evolutive acceleration (F. MEYER, 1954).

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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