Fuchs: Modeling of Uniform Dynamical Systems — Front Matter
Preface to the Web Edition (2008)
This is the online (Web) version of the book that was first published by Orell Füssli Verlag in Zurich in 2002. In 2007, I obtained the copyright from the publisher. Here, I am making the book and its learning materials available to the public.
At this point, the online version is a copy of the book and its CD which contains two chapters of a Computer Based Training Unit (CBT). The CBT parallels the first two chapters of the book. It contains what might be called a manual and many worked examples of system dynamics models. Each model is presented as a series of files reflecting different stages of completion of the modeling process. The tool used to create the models is Stella (iseesystems.com).
The presentation of system dynamics modeling found here differs from many already existing examples. The conceptual development has been inspired by the development of a unified version of macroscopic physics (Physics of Dynamical Systems or Physics as a Systems Science). However, the book is not a physics book at all (as most of my students seem to believe…). Rather, it combines the metaphor of processes of flow and production found in macroscopic physics with a practical introduction to system dynamics modeling. The result is a simple version of an introductory course on dynamical systems.
If you have any feedback on the materials presented here, I'd be happy to hear from you (mail to Hans Fuchs).
