The 4th edition of Systems 1, by Draper and Morgan Kauffman, has been released in Kindle format on Amazon! Alumni of the program will remember it as the first text in the Systems Thinking course. For those unfamiliar with the book, it was a classic introduction to understanding complex systems (biological, social, economic, mechanical, all types) back in the 80s, and it’s been used in classrooms and workshops ever since. It was originally written for 10th graders, but over the last 40 years it’s been used as an introductory textbook by many schools and organizations – the Foresight program being one of them, as well as MIT and the Pentagon, among others.
The new edition updates the language, examples, and diagrams to the 21st century, adds definitions for some of the more critical terms, and includes an entirely new chapter on reinforcing feedback and exponential growth. It’s available now on Amazon in Kindle format for $4.99, with a paperback format coming sometime in mid-2021.
Draper Kauffman taught systems for several years in the Foresight program. Morgan, his son, is an alum of the Foresight program and has also taught the Systems course. Some will remember that they tag-teamed for a few years. It’s great to see their pioneering work on Systems continuing to spread.
