Ludwig von Bertalanffy

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General Systems Theory
20th century

Name: Ludwig von Bertalanffy

Birth: September 19, 1901, Vienna, Austria
Death: June 12, 1972, New York, USA
School/tradition: University of Vienna
Main interests: Biology and systems theory
Notable ideas: General System Theory
Rudolf Carnap, Gustav Theodor Fechner,
Influences: Nicolai Hartmann, Otto Neurath, Moritz
Schlick
Russell L. Ackoff, Kenneth E. Boulding,
Peter Checkland, C. West Churchman, Jay
Influenced:
Wright Forrester, Ervin László, James Grier
Miller, Anatol Rapoport
Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy (September 19, 1901, Atzgersdorf near Vienna, Austria
– June 12, 1972, New York, USA) was an Austrian-born biologist known as one of the
founders of general systems theory. Von Bertalanffy grew up in Austria and
subsequently worked in Vienna, London, Canada and the USA.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Biography
• 2 Work
o 2.1 The individual growth model
o 2.2 Bertalanffy Module
o 2.3 General System Theory (GST)
o 2.4 Open systems
o 2.5 Systems in the social sciences
• 3 See also
• 4 Publications
o 4.1 By Bertalanffy
o 4.2 About Bertalanffy
• 5 References
 • 6 External links
[edit] Biography
Ludwig von Bertalanffy was born in the little village Atzgersdorf near Vienna in 1901.
He came from a distinguished family which included many scholars and court officials
[1]
. The roots of the Bertalanffy family go back to 16th century nobility of Hungary. His
paternal grandfather Charles Joseph von Bertalanffy (1833-1912) settled in Austria, and
was a state theatre director in Klagenfurt, Graz, and Vienna, an important position in
imperial Austria. His eldest son Gustav von Bertalanffy (1861-1919), was a prominent
railway administrator, and father of Ludwig. His grandfather on his mother's side was
imperial counsellor Joseph Vogel, a wealthy Vienna publisher. Ludwig's mother
Charlotte Vogel was seventeen when she married the thirty-four year old Gustav. They
divorced when Ludwig was ten, and both remarried outside the Catholic Church in civil
ceremonies [2].
Von Bertalanffy grew up as an only child. Educated by private tutors until he was ten,
he went to the gymnasium/grammar school. Already trained in self study, he liked to
study on his own. Paul Kammerer, a neighbour, was a famous biologist who was an
example for him.[3] In 1918 he started his studies with history of art and philosophy,
firstly at the University of Innsbruck and then at the University of Vienna. He had to
make a choice between studying philosophy of science and biology, and chose the latter
because, according to him, one could always become a philosopher later, but not a
biologist. In 1926 he finished his PhD thesis (translated title: Fechner and the problem
of integration of higher order) about physicist and philosopher Gustav Theodor
Fechner.[4]
Von Bertalanffy met his future wife Maria in April 1924 in the Austrian Alps. They met
the first day and were almost never apart for the next forty-eight years.[5] She wanted to
finish studying but never did, instead she would devote her life to Bertalanffy's career.
Later in Canada would become his employee for some years and after his death she
compiled two of Bertalanffy's last works. They had one child, who would go on to step
into Bertalanffy's footsteps in the field of cancer research.
Von Bertalanffy was a professor at the University of Vienna from 1934–48, University
of London (1948–49), Université de Montréal (1949), University of Ottawa (1950–54),
University of Southern California (1955–58), the Menninger Foundation (1958–60),
University of Alberta (1961–68), and State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY)
(1969-72). In 1972, he died from a sudden heart attack.
[edit] Work
Bertalanffy occupies an important position in the intellectual history of the twentieth
century. His contributions went beyond biology, and extended to cybernetics, education,
history, philosophy, psychiatry, psychology and sociology. Some of his admirers even
believe that von Bertalanffy's general systems theory could provide a conceptual
framework for all these disciplines.[1] He is seen as founder of the interdisciplinary
school of thoughts known as general systems theory. Yet he spent his life in semi-
obscurity, and he survives mostly in footnotes. Ludwig von Bertalanffy may well be the
least known intellectual titan of the twentieth century.[6]
[edit] The individual growth model
The individual growth model published by von Bertalanffy in 1934 is widely used in
biological models and exists in a number of permutations.
In its simplest version the so-called von Bertalanffy growth equation is expressed as a
differential equation of length (L) over time (t):
when rB is the von Bertalanffy growth rate and the ultimate length of the individual.
This model was proposed earlier by A. Pütter in 1920 (Arch. Gesamte Physiol.
Mensch. Tiere, 180: 298-340).
The Dynamic Energy Budget theory provides a mechanistic explanation of this model
in the case of isomorphs that experience a constant food availability. The inverse of the
von Bertalanffy growth rate appears to depend linearly on the ultimate length, when
different food levels are compared. The intercept relates to the maintenance costs, the
slope to the rate at which reserve is mobilized for use by metabolism. The ultimate
length equals the maximum length at high food availabilities.[7]

Passive electrical schematic of the Bertalanffy module together with equivalent

expression in the Energy Systems Language
[edit] Bertalanffy Module
To honor Bertalanffy, ecological systems engineer and scientist Howard T. Odum
named the storage symbol of his General Systems Language as the Bertalanffy module
(see image right). [8]
[edit] General System Theory (GST)
The biologist is widely recognized for his contributions to science as a systems theorist;
specifically, for the development of a theory known as General System Theory (GST).
The theory attempted to provide alternatives to conventional models of organization.
GST defined new foundations and developments as a generalized theory of systems
with applications to numerous areas of study, emphasizing holism over reductionism,
organism over mechanism.
[edit] Open systems
Bertalanffy's contribution to systems theory is best known for his theory of open
systems. The system theorist argued that traditional closed system models based on
classical science and the second law of thermodynamics were untenable. Bertalanffy
maintained that “the conventional formulation of physics are, in principle, inapplicable
to the living organism being open system having steady state. We may well suspect that
many characteristics of living systems which are paradoxical in view of the laws of
physics are a consequence of this fact.” [9] However, while closed physical systems were
questioned, questions equally remained over whether or not open physical systems
could justifiably lead to a definitive science for the application of an open systems view
to a general theory of systems.
In Bertalanffy’s model, the theorist defined general principles of open systems and the
limitations of conventional models. He ascribed applications to biology, information
theory and cybernetics. Concerning biology, examples from the open systems view
suggested they “may suffice to indicate briefly the large fields of application”[disambiguation
needed]
that could be the “outlines of a wider generalization;” [10] from which, a hypothesis
for cybernetics. Although potential applications exist in other areas, the theorist
developed only the implications for biology and cybernetics. Bertalanffy also noted
unsolved problems, which included continued questions over thermodynamics, thus the
unsubstantiated claim that there are physical laws to support generalizations
(particularly for information theory), and the need for further research into the problems
and potential with the applications of the open system view from physics.
[edit] Systems in the social sciences
In the social sciences, Bertalanffy did believe that general systems concepts were
applicable, e.g. theories that had been introduced into the field of sociology from a
modern systems approach that included “the concept of general system, of feedback,
information, communication, etc.” [11] The theorist critiqued classical “atomistic”
conceptions of social systems and ideation “such as ‘social physics’ as was often
attempted in a reductionist spirit.” [12] Bertalanffy also recognized difficulties with the
application of a new general theory to social science due to the complexity of the
intersections between natural sciences and human social systems. However, the theory
still encouraged for new developments from sociology, to anthropology, economics,
political science, and psychology among other areas. Today, Bertalanffy's GST remains
a bridge for interdisciplinary study of systems in the social sciences.
[edit] See also
Systems science portal
• Population dynamics
• Systems theory
[edit] Publications
[edit] By Bertalanffy
• 1928, Kritische Theorie der Formbildung, Borntraeger. In English: Modern
Theories of Development: An Introduction to Theoretical Biology, Oxford
University Press, New York: Harper, 1933
• 1928, Nikolaus von Kues, G. Müller, München 1928.
• 1930, Lebenswissenschaft und Bildung, Stenger, Erfurt 1930
• 1937, Das Gefüge des Lebens, Leipzig: Teubner.
• 1940, Vom Molekül zur Organismenwelt, Potsdam: Akademische
Verlagsgesellschaft Athenaion.
• 1949, Das biologische Weltbild, Bern: Europäische Rundschau. In English:
Problems of Life: An Evaluation of Modern Biological and Scientific Thought,
New York: Harper, 1952.
• 1953, Biophysik des Fliessgleichgewichts, Braunschweig: Vieweg. 2nd rev. ed.
by W. Beier and R. Laue, East Berlin: Akademischer Verlag, 1977
• 1953, "Die Evolution der Organismen", in Schöpfungsglaube und
Evolutionstheorie, Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner Verlag, pp 53-66
• 1955, "An Essay on the Relativity of Categories." Philosophy of Science, Vol.
22, No. 4, pp. 243–263.
• 1959, Stammesgeschichte, Umwelt und Menschenbild, Schriften zur
wissenschaftlichen Weltorientierung Vol 5. Berlin: Lüttke
• 1962, Modern Theories of Development, New York: Harper
• 1967, Robots, Men and Minds: Psychology in the Modern World, New York:
George Braziller, 1969 hardcover: ISBN 0-8076-0428-3, paperback: ISBN 0-
8076-0530-1
 • 1968, General System theory: Foundations, Development, Applications, New
York: George Braziller, revised edition 1976: ISBN 0-8076-0453-4
• 1968, The Organismic Psychology and Systems Theory, Heinz Werner lectures,
Worcester: Clark University Press.
• 1975, Perspectives on General Systems Theory. Scientific-Philosophical Studies,
E. Taschdjian (eds.), New York: George Braziller, ISBN 0-8076-0797-5
• 1981, A Systems View of Man: Collected Essays, editor Paul A. LaViolette,
Boulder: Westview Press, ISBN 0-86531-094-7
The first articles from Bertalanffy on General Systems Theory:
• 1945, Zu einer allgemeinen Systemlehre, Blätter für deutsche Philosophie, 3/4.
(Extract in: Biologia Generalis, 19 (1949), 139-164.
• 1950, An Outline of General System Theory, British Journal for the Philosophy
of Science 1, p.139-164
• 1951, General system theory - A new approach to unity of science (Symposium),
Human Biology, Dec 1951, Vol. 23, p. 303-361.
[edit] About Bertalanffy
• Sabine Brauckmann, Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1901--1972), ISSS Luminaries of
the Systemics Movement, January 1999.
• Peter Corning, Fulfilling von Bertalanffy's Vision: The Synergism Hypothesis as
a General Theory of Biological and Social Systems, ISCS 2001.
• Mark Davidson, Uncommon Sense: The Life and Thought of Ludwig Von
Bertalanffy, Los Angeles: J. P. Tarcher, 1983.
• Debora Hammond, Philosophical and Ethical Foundations of Systems Thinking,
tripleC 3(2): pag. 20-27, 2005.
• Ervin László (editor), The Relevance of General Systems Theory: Papers
Presented to Ludwig Von Bertalanffy on His Seventieth Birthday, New York:
George Braziller, 1972.
• David Pouvreau, Une biographie non officielle de Ludwig von Bertalanffy
(1901-1972), Vienna 2006.
• David Pouvreau & Manfred Drack, On the history of Ludwig von Bertalanffy's
"General Systemology", and on its relationship to cybernetics, in: International
Journal of General Systems, Volume 36, Issue 3 June 2007 , pages 281 - 337.
• Thaddus E. Weckowicz, Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1901-1972): A Pioneer of
General Systems Theory, Center for Systems Research Working Paper No. 89-2.
Edmonton AB: University of Alberta, February 1989.
[edit] References
1. ^ a b Weckowicz p.2
2. ^ Davidson p.49
3. ^ Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science, page: His Life -
Bertalanffy's Origins and his First Education. Retrieved 2009-04-27
4. ^ Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science, page: His Life -
Bertalanffy's Origins and his First Education. Retrieved 2009-04-27
5. ^ Davidson p.51
6. ^ Davidson, p.9.
7. ^ Bertalanffy, L. von, (1934). Untersuchungen über die Gesetzlichkeit des
Wachstums. I. Allgemeine Grundlagen der Theorie; mathematische und
physiologische Gesetzlichkeiten des Wachstums bei Wassertieren. Arch.
Entwicklungsmech., 131:613-652.
8. ^ Nicholas D. Rizzo William Gray (Editor), Nicholas D. Rizzo (Editor), (1973)
Unity Through Diversity. A Festschrift for Ludwig von Bertalanffy. Gordon &
Breach Science Pub
9. ^ Bertalanffy, L. von, (1969). General System Theory. New York: George
Braziller, pp. 39-40
10. ^ Bertalanffy, L. von, (1969). General System Theory. New York: George
Braziller, pp. 139-1540
11. ^ Bertalanffy, L. von, (1969). General System Theory. New York: George
Braziller, pp. 196
12. ^ Bertalanffy, L. von, (1969). General System Theory. New York: George
Braziller, pp. 194-197