The history of the disciplines that led to the development of systems analysis is marked by a curious relationship between static and dynamic approaches. Although lhe imporlance of the dynamical element was recognized quile early on, lhe method chosen, more often than not, was a static equilibrium analysis. One reason for this obviously lies in the mathematical intricacies of non- equilibrium situations. Although Poincare and various other classical authors pointed oul the amazing complexity of some mechanical problems, lhe general lrend, as reflected in the standard texlbooks, was lo ignore such "subtleties" and concenlrate on a handful of lraclable equations and localized slability analysis. Il is only in lhe lasl decade thal the importance and universal nature of complicated asymptotic behavior has become more widely recognized. This shift in perspective is due lo lhe development of new mathematical lechniques, lo the spread of computing facilities and, possibly, lo lhe growing recognition of the limits of lhe human ability to handle, predict and control complex situatIons.
