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Bibliography

This page contains reference to useful books and articles on Complex Systems. The organization is as follows:

  

Architecture and Theory

The Art of Systems Architecting, Second Edition
Mark W. Maier, Eberhardt Rechtin
ISBN: 0849304407
Highly regarded in the Systems Engineering community. Heuristics provide a framework.
"Contents include extending the architecture paradigm, heuristics as tools, manufacturing systems, social systems, software and information technology systems, collaborative systems, design progression in system architecting, integrated modeling methodologies, architecture frameworks, and more"
Living Systems
James Grier Miller
ISBN: 0070420157
Large (1102 pages), encyclopedic book that covers a wide scale of systems from cells to societies. Covers general systems theory and a classification framework.
Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity
John H. Holland, Heather Mimnaugh (Editor)
ISBN: 0201442302
A pioneer in genetic algorithms and complexity discusses how Complex Adaptive Systems may evolve and adapt.
Emergence: From Chaos to Order (Helix Books)
John H. Holland
ISBN: 0738201421
Discusses how new features arise in systems, making the whole greater than the parts
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Douglas Hofstadter
ISBN: 0465026567
A best seller in 1980's, reflects on a range of topics: artificial intelligence (AI), strange loops and tangled hierarchies, formal and informal systems, number theory, form in mathematics, figure and ground, consistency, completeness, Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry, recursive structures, theories of meaning, propositional calculus, typographical number theory, Zen and mathematics, levels of description and computers; theory of mind: neurons, minds and thoughts; undecidability; self-reference and self-representation;
Corba Design Patterns
Thomas J. Mowbray, Raphael C. Malveau (Contributor)
ASIN: 0471158828
Catalogs design pattern templates for enterprise applications and systems. Presents a scalability model with levels of Microarchitecture, Framework, Application, System, enterprise, Global/Industry.

Real Life Systems

Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy Thomas Sowell
ISBN: 046508138X
A general introduction without jargon and graphs. Views economics as the science of allocating scarce resources. Special emphasis on centralized and distributed control.
Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War
Eliot A. Cohen, John Gooch
ISBN: 0679732969
Systematic analysis of why military operations fail unexpectantly. Analyzes failures of the command system to learn, to anticipate, to adapt. Case studies illustrate the analyses.

Development and Management

NASA Systems Engineering Handbook SP-610S Surveys a wide range of systems engineering methods.
NASA Systems Engineering Process for Programs and Projects JSC 49040 Establishes a common set of suggested top-level technical processes for developing NASA missions. Developed by a NASA-wide team, it consists of a structured set of program/project technical activities and milestones.
Discusses such concepts as design levels, control gates, and life cycle phases.
Exploiting Chaos: Cashing in on the Realities of Software Development
Dave Olson
ASIN: 0442011121
Observes that some chaos is normal during development, especially during phase transitions. Discusses flaws of overly logical, methodical approaches and how to leverage insights into non-linear processes.

Resources

DIAS Argonne National Laboratory has developed the Dynamic Information Architecture System (DIAS), an object-oriented framework with capabilities for attacking complex modeling and simulation problems.
Cetus Links Thousands of links related to object-orientation and component-orientation
Complex Adaptive Systems
Ozalp Babaoglu
Site for a course on CAS. Includes papers and internet resources.