The phrase “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts” is well known and important to Systems Scientists and Systems Engineers alike. It’s like a short pithy definition of Emergence. And it is almost always automatically attributed to Aristotle. But what I want to know is this - Did he say it? Why did he say it? And in what context?
Where is the Science for Systems Engineering? Every engineering discipline has its science — Electrical Engineering has its Ohm's law — Mechanical Engineering has all of Newtonian Physics — Civil Engineering has Material Science — Chemical Engineering has its periodic table of elements — and so on and so forth. But what about Systems Engineering? Where is our science?
On July 27, 2015, I gave a Keynote Address to the Summer Simulation Multi-Conference for the Society for Modeling & Simulation International (SCS). I talked about micro-verse, the Incredible Hulk, the history everyday reality, Internet of Things, the Science of (or lack there-of) Systems Engineering, the concept of Emergence, and M&S. It ended with a big heartfelt thank-you to all the modelers present.
Here are my slides and references for those who want more detail on my lecture. Enjoy.
