Frederic Vester (November 23, 1925 – November 2, 2003) was a German

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

, and an expert in the field of

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

Biography

Vester was born in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

, and studied

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

at the universities of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. From 1955 to 1957 he was postdoctoral fellow at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. From 1957 to 1966 he worked at

Saarland University Saarland University (german: Universität des Saarlandes, ) is a public research university located in Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland. It was founded in 1948 in Homburg in co-operation with France and is organized in si ...

, and from 1969 he worked in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, first at the

Max Planck Institute Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...

. In 1970 he founded the private Munich-based ''Frederic Vester Studiengruppe für Biologie und Umwelt GmbH'' ("Frederic Vester Study Group for Biology and Environment, Ltd.), renamed ''Frederic Vester GmbH'' ("Frederic Vester, Ltd.") after his death. From 1982 to 1989 he was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the

Bundeswehr University Munich image:Eingangsbereich der Universität der Bundeswehr München.jpg, 200px, Entrance to the university Bundeswehr University Munich (german: Universität der Bundeswehr München, UniBw München) is one of two research universities in Germany at fe ...

, and from 1989 to 1991 he was Professor for

Applied Economics Applied economics is the study as regards the application of economic theory and econometrics in specific settings. As one of the two sets of fields of economics (the other set being the ''core''), it is typically characterized by the application ...

at the Hochschule St. Gallen,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Vester's ideas influenced the formation of the

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...

and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

in Germany. He was a member of the

Club of Rome The Club of Rome is a nonprofit, informal organization of intellectuals and business leaders whose goal is a critical discussion of pressing global issues. The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy. It consists ...

. He was married to Anne Vester. The couple had three children and six grandchildren. He died in Munich.

Work

Networked Thinking

Vester was known as pioneer of networked thinking, a combination of

cybernetic Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson ma ...

and

system A system is a group of Interaction, interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment (systems), environment, is described by its boundaries, ...

ic ideas and

complexity Complexity characterises the behaviour of a system or model whose components interaction, interact in multiple ways and follow local rules, leading to nonlinearity, randomness, collective dynamics, hierarchy, and emergence. The term is generall ...

. Central ideas of network thinking include viewing a system as a network of interrelated effects, leading to emergent behavior of the system as a whole. These networks can be described by using protocols, mathematical networks, computer software, so that even someone with the most basic understanding of networks will see relations, including positive and negative

feedback loop Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled c ...

Simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...

s of systemic networks can help to decide the long-term effects of

singular measure In mathematics, two positive (or signed or complex) measures \mu and \nu defined on a measurable space (\Omega, \Sigma) are called singular if there exist two disjoint measurable sets A, B \in \Sigma whose union is \Omega such that \mu is zero on ...

The Sensitivity Model

Vester's ''Sensitivity Model'' combines these ideas, and has been used since the 1980s in studies by

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

and other organizations.

Publications

Most of Vesters books were published in German as well as in other languages, though seldom in English. A list of his works includes: * 1976, ''Ballungsgebiete in der Krise'' (Urban Systems in Crisis) * 1979, ''Das Überlebensprogramm'' (Plan for Survival) * 1982, ''Das kybernetische Zeitalter'' (The Cybernetic Age) * 1985, ''Ein Baum ist mehr als ein Baum'' (A Tree is More than a Tree) * 1990, ''Leitmotiv vernetztes Denken'' (Key Themes of Networked Thinking) * 1991, ''Ausfahrt Zukunft: Strategien für den Verkehr von morgen'' (Gateway Future: Strategies for the Transportation of Tomorrow) * 1999, ''Crashtest Mobilität'' (Crash Test Mobility) * 2002, ''Aufmerksamkeit im Unterricht'' (Attentiveness in the Classroom) * 2002, ''Neuland des Denkens'' (Uncharted Territory of Thought) * 2002, ''Denken, Lernen, Vergessen'' (Thinking, Learning, Forgetting) * 2002, ''Phänomen Stress'' (Phenomenon Stress) * 2002, ''Unsere Welt - ein vernetztes System'' (Our World - A Networked System) * 2007, ''The Art of interconnected Thinking. Ideas and Tools for Tackling Complexity'' (MCB) Vester is also the author of the software tool ''Sensitivity model'' and of several cybernetic games: * 1997 ''Ecopolicy – das kybernetische Strategiespiel'' (Ecopolicy - The Cybernetic Strategy Game) * 1980/1996 ''Ökolopoly. Ein kybernetisches Umweltspiel'' (Ecopoly - A Cybernetic Environment Game)

References

External links

*
Professional Biography of Dr. Vester
(English)
Frederic Vester in the ''Saarländischen Biografien''
(German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vester, Frederic 1925 births 2003 deaths Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni University of Paris alumni Cyberneticists German biochemists People from Saarbrücken Systems biologists Academic staff of Bundeswehr University Munich Academic staff of the University of St. Gallen Recipients of the Saarland Order of Merit German expatriates in France German expatriates in the United Kingdom German expatriates in the United States