5 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
American environmental scientist and systems thinker who co-authored The Limits to Growth (1972) and wrote Thinking in Systems (published posthumously 2008) — the most accessible introduction to systems thinking — who spent her career analyzing complex systems from global ecology to local agriculture.
Jeffrey Kiehl's integration of climate science with Jungian depth psychology — arguing that the psychological and spiritual dimensions of the climate crisis are as important as the scientific ones.
Donella Meadows's posthumously published 2008 introduction to systems thinking — covering stocks and flows, feedback loops, delays, and leverage points — the clearest and most accessible systems thinking primer available.
Charles Mann's dual biography of Norman Borlaug (the 'Wizard' — technological optimist) and William Vogt (the 'Prophet' — conservationist) as archetypes for the two dominant frameworks for addressing humanity's environmental future.
The 1972 Club of Rome report using MIT system dynamics models to argue that unlimited economic and population growth on a finite planet will lead to collapse — one of the most influential and contested environmental documents of the 20th century.