ABSTRACT
The 'systems' concept is very elastic; sometimes it appears to be infinitely so. Some treatments are on the model of mathematical physics, others are more like literature. Everywhere we look there are threats of failures of systems, many on a global scale. Attempts at a more 'scientific' approach to the large-scale problem were resumed by Joseph Tainter in The Collapse of Complex Societies. A simple but powerful model of 'catabolic collapse', a self-reinforcing cycle of contraction converting most capital to waste, has been produced by John Michael Greer. Scientific work of a very different sort by the distinguished ecologist 'Buzz' Holling has produced a most insightful theory of cyclical change of systems. At the time of publication, no one would have missed the ironic parallel with Kuhn's idea of 'normal science' from which all considerations of philosophy, ethics or even criticism are 'externalised'.
