Abstract System dynamics, systems thinking, and soft operations research (soft OR) all aspire
to understanding and improvement of systems. In all, the first step interprets the real world …

This evening I have been asked to give not a technical talk but a very personal recollection of
how I came to develop the field of system dynamics. There are two threads that ran through …

For some time, social scientists have been modeling bits and pieces of urban areas. Now, Jay
Forrester has marched into this arena with a new, wholistic approach and a total disregard …

… 1 This paper is copyright 9 1971 by Jay W. Forrester. It is based on testimony for the
Subcommittee on Urban Growth of the … a All figures are taken from Worm Dynamics by Jay W. …

Industrial dynamics, described as the application of feedback concepts to social systems, is
evolving toward a theory of structure in systems as well as being an approach to corporate …

Fifty years after its creation, I review the current status of the field of system dynamics and
assess prospects for the next fifty. I focus on the challenges the field must face if it is to realize …

The professional field known as system dynamics has been developing for the last 35 years
and now has a world-wide and growing membership. System dynamics combines the theory…

… therein if we also view Forrester's book from the perspective of social theory. This also affords
the opportunity to clarify some misunderstandings of Forrester's ideas. Forrester takes an …

I present a personal recollection of the history of system dynamics and observations about
its present state. The article treats the history in two parts: first, my personal background and …

… Forrester has shown that predicting the exact future values of a real system or replicating the
pointmby—point values of past data is unsound as a basis for evaluating assunptions in a …