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Jay Wright Forrester (1918 – 2016)

Jay Wright Forrester was a American computer engineer and systems scientist. He was a professor at MIT. Forrester is known as the founder of system dynamics, which deals with the simulation of interactions between objects in dynamic systems and is most often applied to research and consulting in organizations and other social systems.

The Many Careers of Jay Forrester (MIT Tech Review)

"Computing pioneer Jay Forrester, SM ’45, developed magnetic-core memory. Then he founded the field of system dynamics. Those are just two of his varied pursuits."

Jay Forrester’s System Dynamics and World Model

Forrester's model of the world's dynamics. This map models the dynamics between population and economic growth (from 1971 to 2021) by relating population, natural resources, pollution, capital investment, food and quality of life (Jay W. Forrester, 1973, p. 144).
"The second major noncorporate application of system dynamics came shortly after the first. In 1970, Jay Forrester was invited by the Club of Rome to a meeting in Bern, Switzerland. The Club of Rome is an organization devoted to solving what its members describe as the "predicament of mankind"—that is, the global crisis that may appear sometime in the future, due to the demands being placed on the Earth's carrying capacity by the world's exponentially growing population. At the Bern meeting, Forrester was asked if system dynamics could be used to address the predicament of mankind. His answer, of course, was that it could. On the plane back from the Bern meeting, Forrester created the first draft of a system dynamics model of the world's socioeconomic system. He called this model WORLD1. Upon his return to the US, Forrester refined WORLD1 in preparation for a visit to MIT by members of the Club of Rome. Forrester called the refined version of the model WORLD2. Forrester published WORLD2 in a book titled World Dynamics."
From Jay W. Forrester, Industrial Dynamics (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1985 / 1st edition 1961), 174.

The Prophet of Unintended Consequences - by Lawrence M. Fisher.

"Jay Forrester’s computer models show the nonlinear roots of calamity and reveal the leverage that can help us avoid it."

Model Metropolis - by Kevin T. Baker  "Behind one of the most iconic computer games of all time is a theory of how cities die—one that has proven dangerously influential."

"Will Wright‘s SimCity was originally a map developing feature within the game Raid on Bungeling Bay. Born of Wright’s love for the intricacies of urban planning and of his interest in Jay Wright Forrester‘s System Dynamics, the city-building simulator was later developed as a spin-off program because Wright was more interested in building the city’s maps than playing the actual game. (via)"

Video: A Model Simulator: Lives of Jay W Forrester

Video: Jay Forrester (Part 1)

Applications of System Dynamics - Jay W. Forrester

Forrester on Courage

"Life must be very practical, it is not theoretical, it is not conceptual with out purpose. What works gets results." - Jay Forrester

#Complexity #Systems #Business #Military #ClimateChange #Regenerative #ML #KM #SE