Abstract
Diagrams refer to the phenomena overtly represented, to analogous phenomena, and to previous pictures and their graphic conventions. The diagrams of ecologists Clarke, Hutchinson, and H.T. Odum reveal their search for physical analogies, building on the success of World War II science and the promise of cybernetics. H.T. Odum's energy circuit diagrams reveal also his aspirations for a universal and natural means of reducing complexity to guide the management of diverse ecological and social systems. Graphic conventions concerning framing and translation of ecological processes onto the flat printed page facilitate Odum's ability to act as if ecological relations were decomposable into systems and could be managed by analysts external to the system.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baldwin, E.: 1947,Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Blum, A. S.: 1991,A Better Style of Art: Illustrations for Nineteenth-Century American Zoology, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Brown, M.: 1977, ‘War, Peace, and the Computer: Simulation of Disordering and Ordering Energies in South Vietnam’, in C. Hall and J. Day (eds.),Ecosystem Modeling in Theory and Practice: An Introduction with Case Histories, Wiley, New York, pp. 393–417.
Clarke, G. L.: 1946, ‘Dynamics of Production in Aquatic Populations’,Ecological Monographs 16, 321–335.
Clarke, G. L.: 1954,Elements of Ecology, John Wiley, New York.
Dansereau, P.: 1973,Inscape and Landscape, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Toronto.
Dansereau, P.: 1975, ‘An Ecological Grading of Human Settlements with Special Reference to the Urban Habitat’, inScience for Better Environment, Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp. 234–243.
Fujimura, J.: 1987, ‘Constructing Doable Problems in Cancer Research: Articulating Alignment’,Social Studies of Science 17, 257–293.
Heims, S.: 1991,The Cybernetics Group (1946-1953), M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Hesse, M.: 1966,Models and Analogies in Science, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame.
Hutchinson, G. E.: 1940, ‘Review: Bio-Ecology’,Ecology 21, 267–268.
Hutchinson, G. E.: 1942, ‘“Addendum” to R. Lindeman, “The Trophic-Dynamic Aspect of Ecology”’,Ecology 23, 417–418.
Hutchinson, G. E.: 1948, ‘Circular Casual System in Ecology’,Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 50, 221–246.
Lakoff, G., and M. Johnson: 1980,Metaphors We Live By, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Lindeman, R.: 1942, ‘The Trophic-Dynamic Aspect of Ecology’,Ecology 23, 399–417.
Lotka, A.: 1925,Elements of Physical Biology, Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, reprinted asElements of Mathematical Biology, Dover, New York, 1956.
Lynch, M.: 1988, ‘The Externalized Retina: Selection and Mathematization in Visual Documentation of Objects in the Life Sciences’,Human Studies 11, 201–234.
Lynch, M., and S. Woolgar (eds.): 1988,Representation in Scientific Practice, Special issue ofHuman Studies 11 (2–3).
Mitchell, W. J. T.: 1986,Iconology: Image, Text, Ideology, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Odum, H. T.: 1950, ‘The Biogeochemistry of Strontium’, Ph.D. Thesis, Yale University.
Odum, H. T.: 1951, ‘The Stability of the World Strontium Cycle’,Science 114, 407–411.
Odum, H. T.: 1956a, ‘Primary Production in Flowing Waters’,Limnology and Oceanography 1, 102–117.
Odum, H. T.: 1956b, ‘Efficiencies Size of Organism, and Community Structure’,Ecology 37, 592–597.
Odum, H. T.: 1957, ‘Trophic Structure and Productivity of Silver Springs, Florida’,Ecological Monographs 27, 55–112.
Odum, H. T.: 1960, ‘Ecological Potential and Analogue Circuits for the Ecosystem’,American Scientist 48, 1–8.
Odum, H. T.: 1962, ‘The Use of a Network Simulator to Synthesize System and Develop Analogous Theory: The Ecosystem Example’, in H. L. Lucas (ed.),Proc. Cullowhee Conf. on Training in Biomathematics, North Carolina State University, pp. 291–297.
Odum, H. T.: 1970, ‘Summary: An Emerging View of the Ecological System at El Verde’, in H. T. Odum and R. F. Pigeon (eds.),A Tropical Rain Forest: A Study of Irradiation and Ecology at El Verde, Puerto Rico, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Oak Ridge, Tenn., pp. 1191–1289.
Odum, H. T.: 1971,Environment, Power, and Society, Wiley-Interscience, New York.
Odum, H. T.: 1982,Systems Ecology: An Introduction, John Wiley, New York.
Odum, H. T., and E. P. Odum: 1955, ‘Trophic Structure and Productivity of a Windward Coral Reef Community on Eniwetok Atoll’,Ecological Monographs 25, 291–320.
Odum, H. T., and R. C. Pinkerton: 1955, ‘Time's Speed Regulator: The Optimum Efficiency for Maximum Power Output in Physical and Biological Systems’,American Scientist 43, 321–343.
Odum, H. T., M. Sell, M. Brown, J. Zuchetto, C. Swallows, J. Browder, T. Ahlstrom, and L. Peterson: 1974, ‘Models of Herbicide, Mangroves, and War in South Vietnam’, inThe Effects of Herbicides in South Vietnam, Part B, Working Papers, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Star, S. L. (ed.): 1988, ‘The Sociology of Science and Technology’, Special issue ofSocial problems 35, 197–310.
Taylor, P. J.: 1988, ‘Technocratic Optimism, H. T. Odum, and the Partial Transformation of Ecological Metaphor After World War II’,Journal of the History of Biology 21, 213–244.
Taylor, P. J.: 1991, ‘Community’, in E. Keller and E. Lloyd (eds.),Keywords in Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Tufte, E. R.: 1983,The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Graphics Press, Cheshire, Conn.
Ulanowicz, R.: 1986,Growth and Development: Ecosystem Phenomenology, Springer-Verlag, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Taylor, P.J., Blum, A.S. Ecosystem as circuits: diagrams and the limits of physical analogies. Biol Philos 6, 275–294 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426841
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426841