author : Hartmut Bossel

About one hundred simulation models from all areas of life are fully documented in the three volumes of the ‘System Zoo’. They can be quickly implemented and easily operated using freely available system dynamics software.

Volume 1 of the System Zoo contains simulation models of elementary processes, and of complex systems from physics and engineering, among them: exponential and logistic growth, oscillations, delays, and storage; phenomena of infection, transition, and overload; complex systems with limit cycles, multiple equilibrium points and chaotic attractors; and applications from control engineering, flight dynamics, fluid flow and heat conduction.

The System Zoo collection of simulation models is particularly well-suited for teaching, training, and research projects at all levels from high school to university, and for individual study. Volume 2 of the System Zoo contains simulation models related to climate, vegetation, ecosystems and resources. Volume 3 deals with systems and processes found in economy and society, and with long-term global development.

About one hundred simulation models from all areas of life are fully documented in the three volumes of the ‘System Zoo’. They can be quickly implemented and easily operated using freely available system dynamics software.

Volume 2 of the System Zoo contains simulation models of the regional water cycle and global carbon cycle, the photosynthesis of vegetation, forest growth, the water, nutrient, and energy dynamics of agriculture, the interaction of plants, animals, and humans with other organisms and resources by predation, harvesting, and competition for nutrients, and through utilization of renewable and exploitation of nonrenewable resources.

The System Zoo collection of simulation models is particularly well-suited for teaching, training, and research projects at all levels from high school to university, and for individual study. Volume 1 of the System Zoo contains simulation models of elementary systems, and of systems from the fields of physics and engineering. Volume 3 deals with systems and processes found in economy and society, and with long-term global development.

About one hundred simulation models from all areas of life are fully documented in the three volumes of the ‘System Zoo’. They can be quickly implemented and easily operated using freely available system dynamics software.

Volume 3 of the System Zoo contains simulation models of economic and social systems and global development, among them: production, stocks and orders, marketing and consumption, competition, life planning, employment, ecotax, escalation, dependence, aggression, population and community development, debt crisis, globalization, the world models of the Club of Rome (by Forrester and the Meadows group) and examples of nonnumerical knowledge processing applied to impact assessment and decision processes.

The System Zoo collection of simulation models is particularly well-suited for teaching, training, and research projects at all levels from high school to university, and for individual study. Volume 1 of the System Zoo contains simulation models of elementary systems, and of systems from the fields of physics and engineering. Volume 2 of the System Zoo presents simulation models related to climate, vegetation, ecosystems and resources.

Drawing on his extensive research and teaching experience in modeling and simulation of a wide range of systems – from engineering to social systems and ecosystems – the author presents the fundamental concepts and approaches for understanding and modeling the complex systems shaping the dynamics of our world.

The book applies state space analysis and system dynamics to deal with the dynamic processes of “causal systems”, discusses information processing approaches for modeling decision processes of “actors” and “agents”, and uses aspects of the coevolutionary development of systems in their environment to deal with normative orientation, ethics, and evaluation of policies and long-term development.

The concepts are applied in particular to the issue of sustainable development of human society in an evolving world. The book is complemented by a survey of system topics and of models from many fields, and by an extensive bibliography on the many systems-related subjects covered.