Wholeness, Sum, Mechanization, Centralization in System Perspective

The concepts just indicated have often been considered to describe characteristics only of living beings, or even to be a proof of vitalism. In actual fact they are formal properties of systems. (1) Let us assume again that the equations (3.1) can be de­veloped into Taylor series: We see that any change in some

Finality in System Perspective

1. Finality As we have seen, systems of equations of the type considered may have three different kinds of solution. The system in ques­tion may asymptotically attain a stable stationary state with increasing time; it may never attain such state; or there may be periodic oscillations. In case the system approaches a stationary state,

Isomorphism in Science and The Unity of Science

1. Isomorphism in Science The present study merely intended to briefly point out the general aim and several concepts of general system theory. Further tasks on the one hand would be to express this theory in a logico-mathematically strict form; on the other hand the principles holding for any type of systems would have

Approaches and Aims in Systems Science

When, some 40 years ago, I started my life as a scientist, biology was involved in the mechanism-vitalism controversy. The mechanistic procedure essentially was to resolve the living organism into parts and partial processes: the organism was an aggregate of cells, the cell one of colloids and organic molecules, behavior a sum of unconditional

Methods in General Systems Research

Ashby (1958a) has admirably outlined two possible ways or general methods in systems study: Two main lines are readily distinguished. One, already well developed in the hands of von Bertalanffy and his co-workers, takes the world as we find it, examines the various systems that occur in it— zoological, physiological, and so on—and then

Advances of General System Theory

The decisive question is that of the explanatory and predictive value of the “new theories” attacking the host of problems around wholeness, teleology, etc. Of course, the change in intellectual climate which allows one to see new problems which were overlooked previously, or to see problems in a new light, is in a way

The Organism as Open System

Physical chemistry presents the theory of kinetics and equilibria in chemical systems. As example, consider the reversible reaction in ester formation: C2H5OH + CH3 • COOH <=> CH3COO • C2H5 + H2O, in which always a certain quantitative ratio between alcohol and acetic acid on the one hand, and between ester and water on

General Characteristics of Open Chemical Systems

True equilibria in closed systems and stationary “equilibria” in open systems show a certain similarity, inasmuch as the system, taken as a whole and in view of its components, remains constant in both systems. But the physical situation in both cases is fundamentally different. Chemical equilibria in closed systems are based on reversible reactions;

Equifinality in Physical System

One important characteristic of biological systems is circum­scribed by terms like “purposiveness,” “finality,” “goal-seeking,” etc. Let us see whether physical considerations can contribute to a clarification of these terms. It has often been emphasized that every system attaining an equilibrium shows, in a certain way, “finalistic” behavior as was discussed previously (pp. 75f.). More

Biological Applications of Physical System

It should have become evident by now that many characteristics of organismic systems, often considered vitalistic or mystical, can be derived from the system concept and the characteristics of certain, rather general system equations, in connection with thermodynamic and statistical-mechanical considerations. If the organism is an open system, the principles generally applying to systems

The Living Machine and Its Limitations

The present discussion may be started with one of those trivial questions which are often only too difficult to answer scientifically. What is the difference between a normal, a sick and a dead organism? From the standpoint of physics and chemistry the answer is bound to be that the difference is not definable on

Some Characteristics of Open Systems

We express this by saying that living systems are basically open systems (Burton, 1939; von Bertalanffy, 1940a; Chapter 5). An open system is defined as a system in exchange of matter with its environment, presenting import and export, building-up and breaking-down of its material components. Up to comparatively recent times physical chemistry, in kinetics

Open Systems in Biology

The model of open systems is applicable to many problems and fields of biology (Beier, 1962, 1965; Locker et al., 1964, 1966a). A survey of the biophysics of open systems, including theoretical foundations and applications, was given some years ago (von Bertalanlfy, 1953a); a revised edition (with W. Beier, R. Laue and A. Locker) is

Open Systems and Cybernetics

Here the important question of the relation of general system theory and cybernetics, of open systems and regulatory mechanisms appears (cf. pp. 160ff.). In the present context a few remarks will suffice. The basis of the open-system model is the dynamic interaction of its components. The basis of the cybernetic model is the feedback

Unsolved Problems in Open System

At present, we do not have a thermodynamic criterion that would define the steady state in open systems in a similar way as maximum entropy defines equilibrium in closed systems. It was believed for some time that such criterion was provided by minimum entropy production, a statement known as “Prigogine’s Theorem.” Although it is

Open Systems and Steady States in Biology

Any modern investigation of metabolism and growth has to take into account that the living organism as well as its components are so-called open systems, i.e., systems maintaining themselves in a continuous exchange of matter with environment (FIG. 7.1). The essential point is that open systems are beyond the limits of conventional physical chemistry

Feedback and Homeostasis of System Theory in Biology

Instead of the theory of open systems, another model construct is more familiar to the American school. It is the concept of feedback regulation, which is basic in cybernetics and was biologi- cally formulated in Cannon’s concept of homeostasis (e.g., Wiener, 1948; Wagner, 1954; Mittelstaedt, 1954, 1956; Kment, 1957). We can give it only

Allometry and the Surface Rule of System Theory in Biology

Let us now proceed to the third model which is the so-called principle of allometry. As is well known, many phenomena of metabolism, and of biochemistry, morphogenesis, evolution, etc., follow a simple equation: i.e., if a .variable y is plotted logarithmically against another variable x, a straight line results. There are so many cases

Theory of Animal Growth

The last model I wish to discuss is the model of growth, honorifically called the Bertalanffy equations (von Bertalanffy, 1957b, 1960b); basic ideas go back to the great German physiologist Putter (1920). Here, too, I am not primarily concerned with details or even the merits and shortcomings of the model; I rather wish to

The Organismic Revolution

In a famous passage of his Critique of Practical Reason, Kant stated that there are two things that fill him with indescribable awe— the starry sky above him and the moral law within him. Kant’s time was the height of German classicism. Within a few decades before and after 1800 the great German poets,