1 Introduction -- Systems Everywhere -- On the History of Systems Theory -- Trends in Systems theory 2 The Meaning of General System Theory -- The Quest for a General System Theory -- Aims of General System Theory -- Closed and Open Systems: Limitations of Conventional Physics -- Information and Entropy -- Causality and Teleology -- What Is Organization? -- General System Theory and the Unity of Science -- General System Theory in Education: The Production of Scientific Generalists -- Science and Society -- The Ultimate Precept: Man, as the Individual 3 Some System Concepts in Elementary Mathematical Consideration -- The System Concept -- Growth -- Competition -- Wholeness, Sum, Mechanization, Centralization Finality -- Types of Finality Isomorphism in Science -- The Unity of Science 4 Advances in General System Theory -- Approaches and Aims in Systems Science -- Methods in General Systems Research Advances of General System Theory 5 The Organism Considered as Physical System -- The Organism as Open System General Characteristics of Open Chemical Systems – Equifinality -- Biological Applications 6 The Model of Open System -- The Living Machine and Its Limitations -- Some Characteristics of Open Systems -- Open Systems in Biology -- Open Systems and Cybernetics -- Unsolved Problems -- Conclusion 7 Some Aspects of System Theory in Biology -- Open Systems and Steady States -- Feedback and Homeostasis -- Allometry and the Surface Rule -- Theory of Animal Growth -- Summary 8 The System Concept in the Sciences of Man -- The Organismic Revolution -- The image of Man in Contemporary Thought -- System-Theoretical Re-orientation -- Systems in the Social Sciences -- A System-Theoretical Concept of History -- The Future in System-Theoretical Aspect 9 General System Theory in Psychology and Psychiatry -- The Quandary of Modem Psychology -- System Concepts in Psychopathology -- Conclusion 10 The Relativity of Categories -- The Whorfian Hypothesis -- The Biological Relativity of Categories – The Cultural Relativity of Categories – The Perspectivistic View Notes -- Appendix: Notes on Developments in Mathematical System Theory – Appendix II: The Meaning and Unity of Science Notes -- References -- Suggestions for Further Reading – Index