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Origin
Ludwig von Bertalanffy was an Austrian biologist known as one of the founders of general systems theory (GST). This is an interdisciplinary practice that describes systems with interacting components, applicable to biology, cybernetics and other fields. For the need to explain interrelationships between organisms. -
Alfred James Lotka
He was a US mathematician, physical chemist, and statistician, famous for his work in population dynamics and energetics. His theory was the closest to the concept of general systems theory. -
Terminology
The origin of the terminology is associated with the publication in 1928 of a seminal book (Von Bertalanffy, 1928, 1968) titled Kritische Theorie der Formbildung, authored by eminent Austrian biologist and philosopher Ludwig von Bertalanffy. Where he addresses in a formal way the general systems theory. -
World War II
Although the general systems theory could be traced back to the 1930s, system engineering was founded during World War II, when Operation Research (OR) was applied by the Allied Forces to improve logistics. -
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is a science born in 1942 and initially promoted by Norbert Wiener and Arturo Rosenblueth Stearns. Its object is "control and communication in the animal and in the machine" or "to develop a language and techniques that will allow us to address the problem of control and communication in general ”. However, this discipline began in 1940 with the investigations of Wiener and Vannevar Bush on calculating machines and on electrical networks with Yuk Wing Lee. -
Bell Telephone Laboratory
In the 1940s Bell Telephone Laboratory started the large network system theory to meet the requirement of large - scale communication network development. -
The initiator
John Von Neumann, who is considered the initiator of the whole concept of dynamics, of artificial systems, as imitators or emulators of the behaviors of natural systems, basically biological systems. In 1948, he presented the theory of automata and based artificial intelligence through the principles of cybernetics. -
Electronic Computer
In the 1950s the electronic computer was created and applied in engineering areas, thus providing a sound material basis for systems engineering. -
Statement of the general theory
In 1950, Ludwig von Bertalanffy raised the general theory of systems proper. -
Systems Engineering
MIT started offering "systems engineering" as a course, and the well-known book "Engineering Cybernetics" written by H.. S. Tsien (1954) was published in same year. -
Catastrophe theory
René Thom and E.C. Zeeman propose the theory of catastrophes, a branch of mathematics according to bifurcations in dynamic systems, which classifies phenomena characterized by sudden shifts in their behavior. -
Chaos theory
In 1980 David Ruelle, Edward Lorenz, Mitchell Feigenbaum, Steve Smale, and James A. Yorke describe Chaos Theory, a mathematical theory of nonlinear dynamical systems that describes bifurcations, strange attractions, and chaotic motions. Ref. https://www.sesge.org/tgs/2-uncategorised/150-que-es-la-teoria-general-de-sistemas.html
