- Paperback: 372 pages
- Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; Reprinted Ed edition (21 Dec 1988)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0932633072
- ISBN-13: 978-0932633071
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.2 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,696,377 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
From the Publisher
Insights to System Problems That Defy Conventional Solutions
The authors of this complete reference -- a computer expert and an anthropologist -- bring new perspectives and fresh insights to systems problems that defy conventional solutions.
The authors of this complete reference -- a computer expert and an anthropologist -- bring new perspectives and fresh insights to systems problems that defy conventional solutions.
Written in plain English, General Principles of Systems Design looks at all kinds of systems design -- human, natural, and technological. This highly readable book offers practical solutions to problem solving for professionals, lay people, and students alike!
Suitable also as an undergraduate text in the humanities, social, natural, and engineering sciences.
Features 100+ figures.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
Unlike most introductions to systems theory I have read, this one goes for the proper concepts, differential equations, but with very little use of mathematics. Like all Weinberg books, it's rather chatty, so it's a matter of taste whether you like the style, but what was extremely useful for me was the way he used game theory for designing external regulation. In other words, control is conflict, something that is highly useful to understand when you work with concepts like TQM or ISO 9000. Weinberg also states that this book is intended as the second book in a trilogy of systems books. Does anybody know whether he completed the final book in the series?
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
One of the most infuential books I have ever read
1 Sep 2000
Format:Paperback
An outstanding follow up to the first book Weinberg wrote(An Introduction to General Systems Thinking, 1975). Anyone who considers themseleves a systems thinker must read this book! Whereas the first book attempts to answer the first question in the systems triumvirate, "Why do we see what we see?", this books tackles the next question, namely "Why do things stay the same?" As a marriage and family therapist, understanding systems is crucial to my work. This book is clearly written, and provides real world examples of sometimes difficult topics. I have read this book cover to cover 3 times in the last 2 years, and continue to get something new from it every time. One of the best books around to think about the organization of systems, regardless of the context.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Great Book -- Makes You Think
15 Jun 2001
Format:Paperback
One of the wonderful things about the Weinbergs' early series of books -- and this one in particular -- is that the ideas and the examples really make you think. With examples chosen from many fields, the book illustrates its central ideas with a cross-fertilization that helps one think outside ones box.
It starts with a very simple idea -- stability. Things change so little most of the time we hardly notice. And yet stability usually requires active forces to sustain it. As an information systems designer, Weinberg helped me see why this simple idea, and a few simple ideas that follow, turn out to explain a great deal about why projects information technology projects fail, and how they can be made more successful.
8 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Not really worth it
29 May 2003
Format:Paperback
Perhaps I bought this book with expecting too much. The books does talk about general system thinking, but:
- I find the book itself rather unsystematic and jumpy
- The style really annoying
- Most of the material is primitive
On the positive side, if you do want to get a feel of system thinking, this might be one of the books. I would also recommend to check out popular books on Complexity (such as Complexity by Mitchell Walldrop).
- I find the book itself rather unsystematic and jumpy
- The style really annoying
- Most of the material is primitive
On the positive side, if you do want to get a feel of system thinking, this might be one of the books. I would also recommend to check out popular books on Complexity (such as Complexity by Mitchell Walldrop).
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