Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The System Dynamics Perspective
- 3 In Search of Sustainability: Past Civilisations
- 4 The World in the Past 300 Years: The Great Acceleration
- 5 Sustainability: Concerns, Definitions, Indicators
- 6 Quality of Life: On Values, Knowledge and Worldviews
- 7 Energy Fundamentals
- 8 On Knowledge and Models
- 9 Land and Nature
- 10 Human Populations and Human Behaviour
- 11 Agro-Food Systems
- 12 Renewable Resources: Water, Fish and Forest
- 13 Non-Renewable Resources: The Industrial Economy
- 14 Towards a Sustainable Economy?
- 15 Outlook on Futures
- Glossary
- References
- Index
- Plate Section
- References
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8 - On Knowledge and Models
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The System Dynamics Perspective
- 3 In Search of Sustainability: Past Civilisations
- 4 The World in the Past 300 Years: The Great Acceleration
- 5 Sustainability: Concerns, Definitions, Indicators
- 6 Quality of Life: On Values, Knowledge and Worldviews
- 7 Energy Fundamentals
- 8 On Knowledge and Models
- 9 Land and Nature
- 10 Human Populations and Human Behaviour
- 11 Agro-Food Systems
- 12 Renewable Resources: Water, Fish and Forest
- 13 Non-Renewable Resources: The Industrial Economy
- 14 Towards a Sustainable Economy?
- 15 Outlook on Futures
- Glossary
- References
- Index
- Plate Section
- References
Summary
Introduction
Sustainability science: The word science suggests pursuit of ‘scientific knowledge’. But what is scientific knowledge? Let us have a closer look at what the acquisition of scientific knowledge is in practice. Suppose you are concerned about air pollution and set up an experiment to measure the concentration of substance X in a well-defined area. The measuring tool is itself a specimen of scientific development. The result of your experiment is a series of concentration values at given location p and time t, c(p,t). Building upon atmospheric physics and chemistry, you interpret the results in terms of dynamic cause-and-effect processes. Such a description, framed in the formal language of mathematics, is called a scientific model.
You realise that it is actually the impact of air pollution that matters, so you decide to explore impact on the forest in the area. With the help of ecologists, you do additional experiments and extend the model. The concentration values c(p,t) are now inputs to descriptions of the various trees in the forest. They are a measure of the exposure of the simulated trees to external factors. Because the tree dynamics are relatively slow, longitudinal experiments have to be set up (>5 years). The result of these experiments are an indication of the sensitivity of the various trees for the particular exposure c(p,t).
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- Sustainability Science , pp. 215 - 243Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012
References
A helpful guide about the status of scientific knowledge and the philosophy of science from a natural science perspective.
What Is this Thing Called Science?, 3rd. ed. Queensland University Press/Open University Press, 1999.Google Scholar
An interesting collection of controversial views of U.S. authors, clarifying divergent worldviews.
Taking Sides – Clashing Views on Environmental Issues, 11th ed. Contemporary Learning Series. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.Google Scholar
This paper gives sixteen reasons, other than prediction, to build models.
Why Model? (2008). jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/11/4/12.html.
A thorough introduction into the philosophy of science from a social science perspective.
The Philosophy of Science – An introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press 2007.Google Scholar
A systematic introduction into what complexity is on the basis of a set of concepts and theories in 20th-century science.
Contributions and applications in the field of sustainable development, notably ecology and anthropology.
, and , eds. Complexity Theory for a Sustainable Future. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.
A not uncontroversial but concise introduction in the rationale for a post-normal science.
The No-Nonsense Guide to Science. Oxford: New Internationalist, 2006.
An inspiring exploration of complexity in a variety of models and systems.
An introduction into environmental modelling with a stepwise introduction of complex system approaches.
, and , eds. Environmental Modelling – Finding Simplicity in Complexity. London: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2004.Google Scholar
Already in 1995, over 30 definitions of complexity were given (Horgan (1995). For detailed discussions, see, for instance, the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation (jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk)
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