Readings

SES # TOPICS READINGS
L1 Introduction to critical contemporary issues (CCIs) and complex systems Sussman, Joseph. "Complex Sociotechnical Systems (CSS): Some Fundamental Concepts." ESD.00 Teaching Note, February 5, 2011. (PDF)
L2 System dynamics I: Introduction

Optional

Buy at Amazon Sterman, John D. Chapters 1, 3 and 5 in Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2000. ISBN: 9780072389159.

L3 System dynamics II: System structure and behavior

Optional

Buy at Amazon Sterman, John D. Chapters 6, 7 and 8 in Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2000. ISBN: 9780072389159.

L4 System dynamics III: Simulation

Optional

Buy at Amazon Sterman, John D. Chapters 8, 9, and 10 in Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2000. ISBN: 9780072389159.

Buy at Amazon Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Back Bay Books, 2002. ISBN: 9780316346627.

L5 Uncertainty I: Introduction

Sussman, Joseph. "How Little Mistakes Can Lead to Big Differences in Outcomes: The Weather." Teaching Note, February 25, 2010. (PDF)

———. "The Tsunami That Wasn't." Teaching Note, March 7, 2010. (PDF)

L6 Uncertainty II: Applications

Sussman, Joseph. "Did Belichick Make the Right Call?" Teaching Note, February 19, 2010. (PDF)

———. "Did Belichick Make the Right Call? - Part 2" Teaching Note, March 10, 2010. (PDF)

Optional

Buy at Amazon Bertsekas, Dimitri P., and John N. Tsitsiklis. Chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4 in Introduction to Probability. 2nd ed. Athena Scientific, 2008. ISBN: 9781886529236.

L7 Networks I: Introduction, structure, and behavior  
L8 Networks II: Applications

Optional

Buy at Amazon Barabasi, Albert-Laszlo. Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means. Plume, 2003. ISBN: 9780452284395.

L9 Considering stakeholders with different values in decision making

Buy at Amazon Martland, Carl D. Sections 5.5 and 5.6 in Toward More Sustainable Infrastructure: Project Evaluation for Planners and Engineers. 1st ed. Wiley, 2011. ISBN: 9780470448762.

Mitchell, Ronald K., Bradley R. Agle, et al. "Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience: Defining the Principle of Who and What Really Counts." Academy of Management Review 22, no. 4 (1997): 853-86.

L10 Class field trip  
L11 Design of an Engineering Systems Division (ESD) undergraduate major  
L12 Final project oral presentations