"The macroscope is unlike other tools.
It is a symbolic instrument made of a number of methods and techniques borrowed from very different disciplines. It would be useless to search for it in laboratories and research centers, yet countless people use it today in the most varied fields. The macroscope can be considered the symbol of a new way of seeing, understanding, and acting." Joel de Rosnay.
Orientation
The how , why and whereof this Lens
INTRODUCTION: THE MACROSCOPE"Microscope, telescope: these words evoke the great scientific penetrations of the infinitely small and the infinitely great. The microscope has permitted a dizzying plunge into the depths of living matter; it has made possible the discovery of the cell, microbes, and viruses; it has advanced the progress of biology and medicine. The telescope has opened the mind to the immensity of the cosmos; it has traced the path of the planets and the stars and has prepared men for the conquest of space.
Today we are confronted with another infinite: the infinitely complex. We are confounded by the number and variety of elements, of relationships, of interactions and combinations on which the functions of large systems depend. We are only the cells, or the cogs; we are put off by the interdependence and the dynamism of the systems, which transform them at the very moment we study them. We must be able to understand them better in order to guide them better. And this time we have no instrument to use. We have only our brain--our intelligence and our reason--to attack the immense complexity of life and society. True, the computer is an indispensable instrument, yet it is only a catalyst, nothing more than a much-needed tool.
We need, then, a new instrument. The microscope and the telescope have been valuable in gathering the scientific knowledge of the universe. Now a new tool is needed by all those who would try to understand and direct effectively their action in this world, whether they are responsible for major decisions in politics, in science, and in industry or are ordinary people as we are.
I shall call this instrument the macroscope (from macro, great, and skopein, to observe."
from the introduction of " The Macroscope" " Copyright (c): Joel de Rosnay.
Connective Summary
Macrosope: a brief guide to the infinitely complex
This lens explores the world we live in through the concpets of Cybenetics. In particular, it focuses on the works of two visionary authors and their works which still remain fresh today even though the books are out of print.Whereas "The Macroscope" applies the concepts of systems theory and cybernetics synchronically, to get a large scale picture of the world in which we live, "The Phenomenon of Science" uses these concepts diachronically, to understand its historical development.
Web Resources
- The Macrosope
- Principia Cybernetica Web now offers the complete text and drawings of the book "The Macroscope" by Joel de Rosnay.
It was originally published in 1979 by Harper & Row, (New York), but is now out of print. Therefore, they have made it again available on the web. - THE PHENOMENON OF SCIENCE
- This Web edition was produced by the Principia Cybernetica Project for research purposes ...
"This is the first book to introduce the ideas of Metasystem Transitions Theory. It is directed at a broad, non-specialised public, and requires not more than high school mathematics. It discusses the evolution of humanity, starting from the first living cells up to human culture and science. It shows how the great advances in intelligence and cognition, from simple reflexes, to learning, thought, mathematical reasoning and the most advanced realms of metascientic analysis, can be understood as metasystem transitions, in which a higher level of control emerges. Its originality lies in the integration of a cybernetic analysis of knowledge with the trial and error process of natural selection, which creates ever higher levels in the hierarchical organization of mind."
The author, Prof. Valentin Turchin, a cyberneticist, computer scientist and physicist, started his research career in the Soviet Union, but is presently an emeritus professor at the City College of the City University of New York (see his biography). He is a founding editor of the Principia Cybernetica Project.
