At Bell Labs, Bill acquired a very significant breadth and depth of systems and engineering knowledge. He made important and innovative contributions to systems thinking and engineering system development. Bill's global perspective has taken him around the world - supporting the local Bell Labs teams and their clients. He has served as a systems engineering consultant for both executive-level and working-level groups in Japan, England, Malaysia, France, and Canada.

After earning a PhD in Ecology at the University of Georgia's Eugene P. Odum School of Ecology, Bill is now pursuing his goal of beneficially applying the skills, perspectives, methods, and techniques of the systems approach and systems engineering to increase understanding of complex ecological systems.

Preface

Introduction

Part I The Systems and Engineering PerspectiveChapter 1 A Systems Engineer's PerspectiveChapter 2 More Views on Systems ThinkingChapter 3 The Major Elements of the Systems ApproachChapter 4 Reductionism and Information Loss

Part II A Function-Structure-Process Framework for Ecological System DynamicsChapter 5 Overview of an Ecological System Dynamics FrameworkChapter 6 Regulation/Adaptation: Control Aspects of Ecological SystemsChapter 7 Evolution and Universal Development Concepts

Part III Complex Systems Theory: Networks, Nonlinear Dynamics, Cellular Automata, and Fractals (Roughness)Chapter 8 Network Theory: The Structure of Complex NetworksChapter 9 Network Theory: The Dynamics of Complex NetworksChapter 10 Fundamentals of Nonlinear DynamicsChapter 11 Cellular Automata Investigations and Emerging Complex System PrinciplesChapter 12 Fractals: The Theory of Roughness

Part IV A View of the Characteristics of Ecological Network DynamicsChapter 13 Issues of Human PerceptionChapter 14 The Nature of Order and Complexity in Ecological SystemsChapter 15 Characteristics of Ecological Network Dynamics

Part V Modeling Ecological Network Dynamics and the Generation and Analysis of ResultsChapter 16 A New Approach to Modeling Ecological Network DynamicsChapter 17 Model Software Design and DevelopmentChapter 18 Ecological Network Dynamics Results

Part VI Pulling It All TogetherChapter 19 An Increased Understanding of Complex System Dynamics

Appendix Selections from the Dynamics Model Programming Code