Introduction to System Science with MATLAB, 2nd Edition

9System Science Applications

In this chapter, we will examine a variety of systems from many fields of human knowledge and the environment. These systems provide a broad sampling of simple but practical quantitative models in which to apply the various methods of modeling, analysis, and evaluation activities provided in this text. However, since the detailed examination, analysis, and evaluation of any of the systems considered here would be an unreasonable venture in time and effort. Our purposes will be primarily to initiate a model development and briefly analyze the systems posed in this chapter for their pedagogical and demonstrative value rather than for detailed knowledge and understanding of the specific systems considered.

We introduce the chapter by providing a comprehensive but simple classification of human knowledge into categories of practical interest for system science. Then we devote the remainder of the chapter to specific system studies and attempt to demonstrate many of the modeling and analysis concepts, methods, and schemes we have developed previously. Selected MATLAB software tools, especially the Symbolic Toolbox, are employed to manipulate, model, analyze, graph, and otherwise assist in the evaluation of many of the system applications presented in this chapter. However, detailed, and comprehensive processing and evaluation of these system models using MATLAB and its various Toolboxes are deferred to the reader. It is assumed that the reader is already ...