Emery F. Systems Thinking 1976

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Great overview of a formative period of systems thinking, from the late 1930s to the late 1960s. Edited by Emery with contributions from Ackoff, Simon, Ashby, von Bertalanffy, Emery himself, and others. Classic compilation of texts on systems theory. So many of these texts have proved their worth as a platform for further science. Useful for students and historians of science.
Introduction
Precedents to Systems Theory
A. Angyal (1941) A logic of systems
J. Feibleman and J. W. Friend (1945) The structure and function of organization
Properties of Open Systems
W. Koehler (1938) Closed and open systems
L. von Bertalanfly (1950) The theory of open systems in physics and biology
D. Katz and R. L. Kahn (1966) Common characteristics of open systems
W. R. Ashby (1956) Self-regulation and requisite variety
V. I. Kremyanskiy (1958) Certain peculiarities of organisms as a «system» from the point of view ofphysics, cybernetics, and biology
G. Sommerhoff (1969) The abstract characteristics of living systems
The Environment of a System
M. P. Schiitzenberger (1954). A tentative classification of goal-seeking behaviours
H. A. Simon (1956). Rational choice and the structure of the environment
W. R. Ashby (1960) Adaptation in the multistable system
F. E. Emery and E. L. Trist (1965) The causal texture of organizational environments
Human Organizations as Systems
P. Selznick (1948). Foundations of the theory of organizations
F. E. Emery and E. L. Trist (1960) Socio-technical systems
E. Nagel (1956) A formalization of functionalism
R. L. Ackoff (1960) Systems, organizations, and interdisciplinary research
Systems Management
A. O. Hirschman and C. E. Lindblom (1962) Economic development, research and development, policy making: some converging views
M. Ways (1967) The road to 1977
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Author Index
Subject Index