To me, Christopher Alexander's work comes closest to describing "systems science". I recommend
Notes on the Synthesis of Form,
The Timeless Way of Building, and then skipping to the
Nature of Order series.
I'm of the opinion right now that what we call "design" and "architecture" is really just the science of finding stable habitable zones in high-dimensional problem spaces.
What's cool about Alexander's work is that he makes a great case that this stuff is objective phenomena that can be studied!
I'm planning to write much more about Christopher Alexander on my own blog in the future, but meanwhile I can recommend Dorian Taylor's excellent works:
• https://the.natureof.software
• https://doriantaylor.com
I gave a talk on this subject at DDD Europe this year, so keep your eyes out for "Timeless Way of Software - Taylor Troesh" on their YouTube channel :)
• https://www.youtube.com/@ddd_eu
I'm of the opinion right now that what we call "design" and "architecture" is really just the science of finding stable habitable zones in high-dimensional problem spaces.
What's cool about Alexander's work is that he makes a great case that this stuff is objective phenomena that can be studied!
I'm planning to write much more about Christopher Alexander on my own blog in the future, but meanwhile I can recommend Dorian Taylor's excellent works:
• https://the.natureof.software
• https://doriantaylor.com
I gave a talk on this subject at DDD Europe this year, so keep your eyes out for "Timeless Way of Software - Taylor Troesh" on their YouTube channel :)
• https://www.youtube.com/@ddd_eu