General System Theory

The classic book on a major modern theory

Bertalanffy’s selected writings on his theory of laws applicable to virtually every scientific field. This conceptual approach has had a profound impact on biology, economics, psychology, and demography, with new relevancies today. The new foreword by University of Vienna system theory professor, Wolfgang Hofkirchner, and Centre for Systems Philosophy director, David Rousseau, discusses the theory’s contemporary applications.

Ludwig von Bertalanffy was the creator of general system theory and the author of ten books. He died in 1972.

Wolfgang Hofkirchner is president of the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science, academician at the International Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences, and associate professor at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria.

David Rousseau PhD FRSA is director of the Centre for Systems Philosophy in Surrey, UK, and a visiting fellow of the Centre for Systems Studies at the University of Hull.