Resources

Books:

Capra, Fritjof. (1982). “The Turning Point.” Bantam Books. New York.
Capra takes a worldview when describing systems thinking. Easy to read and he uses examples from many different disciplines including ecology, medicine, psychology and economics. In his typical style he ties the disciplines together to show true systems thinking.

Capra, Fritjof. (1996). “The Web of Life.” Anchor Books. New York.
This book does a great job in showing how the connections and interrelatedness among organism, human, communities or within organizations are important. Easy to read. Mostly dealing with ecosystems.

Checkland, Peter. (1999). “Systems Thinking, Systems Pracitce.” John Wiley and Sons. New York.
Explains systems thinking in a managerial format, contains chapters on “soft” versus “hard” system analysis.

Kauffman, Draper L. Jr. (1980). “Systems 1: An Introduction to Systems Thinking”. Ed. Stephan A. Carlton. S. A. Carlton. Minnesota.
Introduction to Systems Thinking with easy to understand examples, illustrations, and humor.

Krieger, Lise. (2006). “Systems Thinking Simplified.” Self-published. Available at http://www.lulu.com
A systems thinking for dummies type approach. Very easy to read, easy to understand examples. Great history of systems thinking. Book Two is most concerned with organizations and management.

Senge, Peter M. (1990). “The Fifth Discipline.” Doubleday. New York.
Geared mostly for management but principles are well suited for educational purposes. The fifth discipline is comprised of five parts, one being systems-thinking.

Von Bertalanffy, Ludwig. (1968). “General Systems Theory.” George Braziller. New York.
VonBertalanffy was a biologist and founder of General Systems Theory. This book is a great read for those in the sciences. He discusses systems through dynamical systems, uses the organism as a system. Interdisciplinary collection of his essays.

Websites & Online Articles:

Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (2003).
Great website for overview and examples of systems thinking, many resources available through resource links. Designed from an educational view.

Mental Model Musings. Bellinger, G. (1998).
Great website for definitions, examples, large section geared toward business and organizations.

Quantifying Complexity Theory. Lucas, Chris. (1999).
Good explanation of Complexity Theory.

Cybernetics: A Definition. Pangaro, Paul. (2005).
Easy to understand definition and history of cybernetics.

Teaching Systems Dynamics and Systems Thinking. Ossimitz, G. (2006).
Website with links to papers on systems thinking, software for modeling, some papers in German, others in English, links to many resources.

Systems Modeling as Mind Tools (2001).
This website, done by the University of Missouri-Columbia, contains many links to student modeling projects.

Welcome to Principia Cybernetica Web. (Eds). Heylighen, F, C. Joslyn, and V. Turchin. (2002).
Website with information, resources, articles, many links.

Film

“Mindwalk.” (1990). Directed by Brent Amadeus Capra.
This film is not an action packed movie but a film that shows the interrelatedness in the world. This film is a conversation between a scientist, a politician, and a poet.