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

TIME – SPACE NEXUS 2)3)

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As noted by I. PRIGOGINE: "The legacy of Newtonian mechanics is a concept of the world in which time is essentially a parameter associated with motion. As early as 1796, LAGRANGE called mechanics a four dimensional geometry" (1973, p.29).

The introduction of a finite velocity for the propagation of light implied that space measurement is possible in terms of timely propagation of light. This understanding is now currently used in astronomy (light years). This already dawned in H. MINKOWSKI's mind in 1908: "Space by itself, and time by itself, are doomed to fade away into mere shadows, and only a kind of union of the two will preserve an independent reality" (1923, p.78).

Necessarily, if the velocity of light is finite and if there is no infinite velocity in the universe, propagation of effects in space needs time. This is moreover the condition of the simultaneous existence of separate locations in space. This in turn produces numerous independent initial conditions at any moment, the basis for deterministic chaos.

D. BOHM and FD. PEAT state with reference to the space-time of relativity: "Again two appearently incommensurable concepts were discovered to have a deeper unity, and perception- communication was extended in physics. Indeed EINSTEIN's was one of the most revolutionary steps taken in the history of science" (1987, p.75).

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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