General Systems Theory: A Mathematical Approach

The overall trend of modern science and technology is to synthesize all areas of knowledge into a few major blocks. Another characteristic is that the esthetic standard of scientific workers has been changing constantly. They ask, How can they equip themselves with the newest knowledge? How can they handle new knowledge, the amount of which has been increasing in a geometric series? According to Quastler, systems methodology is essentially the establishment of a structural foundation for four kinds of theories of organization: cybernetics, game theory, decision theory, and information theory. General systems methodology is a theoretical methodology whose purpose is to realize the ideal model of a systems theory described by von Bertalanffy, Quastler, and Zadeh - that is, to establish a general theory applicable to explain phenomena in various specific systems. The present volume is a comprehensive and mathematical approach to general systems theory. Topics explored are naíve set theory; axiomatic set theory; centralizability and tests of applications; systems of single relations; calculus of generalized numbers; unsolved problems in general systems theory.