Small Systems

For tWQ years now, beside:] my ['~r.1l1Ilr w{jrk in Thnoretical Computer Scienc8 ill Berlin, I Ilave given seminars to Computer Scienne utudp.nt~ on "The Li~er8ture of Sm~ll Systems". TOB~theJ' we rend books like "Walden" by Thorenu, "Smnll is Beautiful" by Schumacher, "Zon and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Pirsi~. 1 rlr~w 00 those experiences in discussin& th,! que~tion; ~h~t differentiates a biB environment from n smnll one? ilow does the difference influonce our illtera~tionB in e:lch? Not only the menns and rules of II 9y~tem determine it, but also my knowin~ of how it works, Iny willing to act in it, find the value3 Rttach 1;0 it. I cAll ,q systf!m ''lmall' if it 1:> 'ljlpl"upl"i~te in t~ese five respects, neither e~ce33i/e nor uefectiv8. Since extremes impair thR interact~0n3, W9 interact more intensely in a small 3y3t~ln thon in a big on8. Genarally one Ilescribes 3nd controls computer-aided nnd other technic~l syst~ms through their me,qn3 lind rllle~ Alone. Ther~by une reduces the 3yst~m9 to the fir8t two J"espects; they become biS. This observation llolds fur any kind of scientific work. A scientist who cunfin~n himself to work with small systems, could W0rk with on ecological conscience. *~'fe~c:ll1(R-C-h<;~i.fn~_i·';~~;-ft.qtBerlin, F.B. InfcJl"lnnti:<. I was viRitin~ Pennsylvani3 Stat8 University and Purdlle University on a travel grant of the Deut:~che Forschun&sgemeinschaft while I wrote the pRper. I laid the foundations of the papal" durine n 19"r9/80 sabbatical at Purdue University, made p0ssihle by u travel grant of the Stiftung Volkswagenw~rk. I thank both institutions for the ~enerous 9upport.