The Energy Systems Language, also referred to as Energese, Energy Circuit Language, or Generic Systems Symbols, is a

modelling language A modeling language is any artificial language that can be used to express information or knowledge or systems in a structure that is defined by a consistent set of rules. The rules are used for interpretation of the meaning of components in the st ...

used for composing energy flow diagrams in the field of

systems ecology Systems ecology is an interdisciplinary field of ecology, a subset of Earth system science, that takes a holism, holistic approach to the study of ecological systems, especially ecosystems. Systems ecology can be seen as an application of general ...

. It was developed by

Howard T. Odum Howard Thomas Odum (September 1, 1924 – September 11, 2002), usually cited as H. T. Odum, was an American ecologist. He is known for his pioneering work on ecosystem ecology, and for his provocative proposals for additional laws of thermod ...

and colleagues in the 1950s during studies of the tropical forests funded by the

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President H ...

Design intent

The design intent of the energy systems language was to facilitate the generic depiction of energy flows through any scale system while encompassing the

laws of physics Scientific laws or laws of science are statements, based on repeated experiments or observations, that describe or predict a range of natural phenomena. The term ''law'' has diverse usage in many cases (approximate, accurate, broad, or narrow) a ...

, and in particular, the laws of

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of the ...

(see

energy transformation Energy transformation, also known as energy conversion, is the process of changing energy from one form to another. In physics, energy is a quantity that provides the capacity to perform work or moving, (e.g. Lifting an object) or provides heat. ...

for an example). In particular H.T. Odum aimed to produce a language which could facilitate the intellectual analysis, engineering synthesis and management of global systems such as the geobiosphere, and its many subsystems. Within this aim, H.T. Odum had a strong concern that many abstract mathematical models of such systems were not thermodynamically valid. Hence he used analog computers to make system models due to their intrinsic value; that is, the electronic circuits are of value for modelling natural systems which are assumed to obey the laws of energy flow, because, in themselves the circuits, like natural systems, also obey the known laws of energy flow, where the energy form is electrical. However Odum was interested not only in the electronic circuits themselves, but also in how they might be used as formal analogies for modeling other systems which also had energy flowing through them. As a result, Odum did not restrict his inquiry to the analysis and synthesis of any one system in isolation. The discipline that is most often associated with this kind of approach, together with the use of the energy systems language is known as

General characteristics

When applying the electronic circuits (and schematics) to modeling ecological and economic systems, Odum believed that generic categories, or characteristic modules, could be derived. Moreover he felt that a general symbolic system, fully defined in electronic terms (including the mathematics thereof) would be useful for depicting real system characteristics, such as the general categories of production, storage, flow, transformation, and consumption. Central principles of electronics also therefore became central features of the energy systems language – Odum's generic symbolism. Depicted to the left is what the generic symbol for storage, which Odum named the Bertalanffy module, in honor of the

general systems ''General Systems: Yearbook of the Society for General Systems Research'', known as ''General Systems'', is the first annual journal in the field of systems science initiated in 1956, and initially edited by Ludwig von Bertalanffy and Anatol Rap ...

theorist

Ludwig von Bertalanffy Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy (19 September 1901 – 12 June 1972) was an Austrian biologist known as one of the founders of general systems theory (GST). This is an interdisciplinary practice that describes systems with interacting components, appl ...

. For Odum, in order to achieve a

holistic Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book ''Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED Onl ...

understanding of how many apparently different systems actually affect each other, it was important to have a generic language with a massively scalable modeling capacity – to model global-to-local, ecological, physical and economic systems. The intention was, and for those who still apply it, is, to make biological, physical, ecological, economic and other system models thermodynamically, and so also energetically, valid and

verifiable Verify or verification may refer to: General * Verification and validation, in engineering or quality management systems, is the act of reviewing, inspecting or testing, in order to establish and document that a product, service or system meets ...

. As a consequence the designers of the language also aimed to include the energy metabolism of any system within the scope of inquiry.

Pictographic icons

In order to aid learning, in ''Modeling for all Scales'' Odum and Odum (2000) suggested systems might first be introduced with pictographic icons, and then later defined in the generic symbolism.

Pictograms A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and gr ...

have therefore been used in software programs like ExtendSim to depict the basic categories of the Energy Systems Language. Some have argued that such an approach shares similar motivations to

Otto Neurath Otto Karl Wilhelm Neurath (; 10 December 1882 – 22 December 1945) was an Austrian-born philosopher of science, sociologist, and political economist. He was also the inventor of the ISOTYPE method of pictorial statistics and an innovator in mu ...

's isotype project,

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathema ...

's (

Characteristica Universalis The Latin term ''characteristica universalis'', commonly interpreted as ''universal characteristic'', or ''universal character'' in English, is a universal and formal language imagined by Gottfried Leibniz able to express mathematical, scientif ...

) Enlightenment Project and

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

's works.

References

* M.T.Brown (2004) 'A picture is worth a thousand words: energy systems language and simulation', ''Ecological Modelling'', 178: 83–100. * H.T. Odum, Pigeon, R.F. (Eds.) (1970), A Tropical Rainforest, Division of Technical Information, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (TID2470) * H.T.Odum (1971) ''Environment, Society and Power'', Wiley Interscience. * H.T.Odum (1994) ''Ecological and General Systems: An Introduction to Systems Ecology'', Colorado University Press, Colorado. * P.J.Taylor and A.S.Blum (1991) "Ecosystems as Circuits: Diagrams and the Limits of Physical Analogies", ''Biology and Philosophy'', 6: 275–294.

External links

{{modelling ecosystems Economic systems Emergy Infographics Systems ecology Trophic ecology Modeling languages

Design intent

General characteristics

Pictographic icons

See also

References

External links