Further to the discussions on trying to define Complexity perhaps one
should first define Complexity Science. I was struck by the analogy
with Chemical Engineering (my own training) which is a diverse body of
knowledge that allows its practitioners to design, build, operate,
control, maintain, trouibleshoot, modify and optimize process plants,
safely, for many different industries (food, chemicals, energy, waste
management, etc.) along with the parallel activity of performing
theoretical and experimental research into the fundamentals of Chemical
Engineering topics. Chemical Engineering also appreciates systems and
relationships with other professions: Process Control (Automation),
Managment Science, Mechanical Engineering, etc. No-one really cares
whether a system becomes a chemical engineering system or not and there
is no measure of 'chemical engineering'. The body of knowledge is
broken down into separate but interlinked subjects many without a unique
claim to chemical engineering: thermodynamics, engineering drawing,
process control, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, distillation, etc.,
etc. So Chemical Engineering as taught is defined pretty much by the
schools that teach it. This has of course evolved over time to embrace
computer modeling, digital process control and other recent innovations
such as nanobiotechnology. The American Institute of Chemical
Engineering (
http://www.aiche.org/) regulates the profession, sets
standards in education and ethics for the US (see their Vision and
Mission at
http://www.aiche.org/About/WhoWeAre/Vision/index.aspx), as do
similar organizations for other countries. So Chemical Engineeing is a
reflection of how society has organized itself around the term and the
body of knowledge and its practioners. (Why does the image of a Klein
bottle come to mind?) BTW, univerisity taught Chemical Engineering has
been claimed to have a useful half life of only 4 years.
Robert C
www.cirrillian.com
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