Editing Systems science (section)

{{short description|Study of the nature of systems}}
[[Image:Systems thinking about the society.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Impression of systems thinking about society]]
{{Complex systems}}
'''Systems science''', also referred to as '''systems research'''<ref>Ison, Ray. ''Systems Practice: How to Act: In situations of uncertainty and complexity in a climate-change world'', 2nd ed, 2017. Springer, p. 166.</ref> or simply '''systems''',<ref>Ison, Ray. ''Systems Practice: How to Act: In situations of uncertainty and complexity in a climate-change world'', 2nd ed, 2017. Springer, p. 33.</ref> is a [[Transdisciplinarity|transdisciplinary]]<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1073/pnas.0913003109 | title=A systems science perspective and transdisciplinary models for food and nutrition security | year=2012 | last1=Hammond | first1=Ross A. | last2=Dubé | first2=Laurette | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=109 | issue=31 | pages=12356–12363 | pmid=22826247 | pmc=3411994 | bibcode=2012PNAS..10912356H | doi-access=free }}</ref> field that is concerned with understanding simple and complex [[system]]s in [[nature]] and [[society]], which leads to the advancements of formal, natural, social, and applied attributions throughout [[engineering]], [[technology]], and [[science]] itself.

To systems scientists, the world can be understood as a system of systems.<ref>G. E. Mobus & M. C. Kalton, ''Principles of Systems Science'', 2015, New York:Springer.</ref> The field aims to develop transdisciplinary foundations that are applicable in a variety of areas, such as psychology, biology, medicine, communication, business, technology, computer science, engineering, and social sciences.<ref>[[Philip M'Pherson]] (1974, p. 229); as cited by: {{cite journal |doi=10.1002/sres.2215 |title=Understanding Systems Science: A Visual and Integrative Approach |year=2013 |last1=Hieronymi |first1=Andreas |journal=Systems Research and Behavioral Science |volume=30 |issue=5 |pages=580–595 |url=http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/231986/1/Hieronymi%202013%20Understanding%20Systems%20Science%20srbs2215.pdf }}. He defined systems science as "the ordered arrangement of knowledge acquired from the study of systems in the observable world, together with the application of this knowledge to the design of man-made systems".</ref>

Themes commonly stressed in system science are (a) holistic view, (b) interaction between a system and its embedding [[environment (systems)|environment]], and (c) complex (often subtle) trajectories of dynamic behavior that sometimes are stable (and thus reinforcing), while at various '[[boundary conditions]]' can become wildly unstable (and thus destructive). Concerns about Earth-scale biosphere/geosphere dynamics is an example of the nature of problems to which systems science seeks to contribute meaningful insights.