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

ALLOMETRY (Principle of) 2)

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"As the growth of any particular structure proceeds, in the absence of change in the pattern of the structure itself, volumes will grow eight times as fast and surfaces will grow four times as fast as linear dimensions" (K. BOULDING, 1972, p.87)

As observed by L.von BERTALANFFY: "The simple relationship of allometric increase applies to many growth phenomena in biology (morphology, biochemistry, physiology, evolution)" (1962, p.12)

Commenting on this principle, K. BOULDING expresses that it also applies to social organizations, in a more subtle way: "… organizations eventually limit their own growth simply by the sheer difficulty in getting communication from the "surface" of the organization, where it is in contact with its environment, into the decisions-makers who are not in direct contact with the environment" (1972, Ibid)

In this case, it is mainly a problem of time lags. However, even if communication is accelerated through technical devices, strain and saturation may well occur, by overload, or chaos may seep in.

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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