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A system is an open set of complementary, interacting parts, with properties, capabilities and behaviours of the set emerging both from the parts and from their interactions to synthesize a unified whole.

— Derek Hitchins

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More quotes by Derek Hitchins

System engineering is the art and science of creating effective systems, using whole system, whole life principles.

Derek Hitchins (1995)

There seem to be two fundamental schisms in thinking: the hard/soft and the open/closed.

Putting systems to work (1992)

The real world is made from open, interacting systems, behaving chaotically.

D.K. Hitchins (2000)

For continued system cohesion, the mean rate of system adaptation must equal or exceed the mean rate of change of environment.

Putting systems to work (1992)

System engineering is the art and science of creating optimal solution systems to complex issues and problems.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Derek Hitchins (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.