The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is among the first and oldest organizations devoted to interdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of complex systems, and remains perhaps the most broadly inclusive. The Society was initially conceived in 1954 at the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Kenneth Boulding, Ralph Gerard, and Anatol Rapoport. In collaboration with James Grier Miller, it was formally established as an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1956. Originally founded as the Society for General Systems Research, the society adopted its current name in 1988 to reflect its broadening scope. taken from: ISSS

In one of my endless journeys through the Internet, I recently stopped at a distant shore full of ripe fruits: The ISSS, which I didn't know until a few days ago, operates from a philosophy of abundance and sharing. They offer, free of charge, the full audio recordings of their 2006 World Conference, which was hosted in Sonoma. Something like 20 hours of speeches; more than 100 MB of MP3 files reflecting on the current state of systems sciences. Yet I haven't listened to all of them, and they will attract my attention for the next weeks to come. I will revisit the recordings again and again. One of my main attractors is Fritjof Capra's opening speech to that conference.

Fritjof Capra has been the leading author on new thinking for the last 30 years. His books "The Tao of Physics" and "The Web of Life" were part of my initiation rite into Change Management in general and into systems dynamics in particular. He was the opening speaker of the 2006 ISSS conference, with a one and a half hours presentation on his topic "Complexity and Life". This is a tour de force, describing the historical development of systems science in its different and originally separated disciplines; until they finally found together. Capra provides a clear and concise description of the concept of non-linear dynamics, and the dichotomy between substance and pattern, which in the Western world for a long time did not meet, until the Quantum Theory proved their compatibility. This fundamental presentation of Capra is a wonderful start for those who are new to the subject and a great reminder for those of us which need to revisit systems theory from time to time refresh our knowledge on the scientific foundation of one of our roots.

Listen to a 4 minutes snippet of Capra's speech. To access the full speech, go to ISSS 2006 World Conference website