Engineering complex systems: Multiscale analysis and evolutionary engineering

Abstract

We describe an analytic approach, multiscale analysis, that can demonstrate the fundamental limitations of decomposition based engineering for the development of highly complex systems. The interdependence of components and communication between design teams limits any planning based process. Recognizing this limitation, we found that a new strategy for constructing many highly complex systems should be modeled after biological evolution, or market economies, where multiple design efforts compete in parallel for adoption through testing in actual use. Evolution is the only process that is known to create highly complex systems. © 2006 Springer.