In “The Macroscope" Joël de Rosnay introduces the readers to the concepts of Systems thinking and applies the principles of this field to 3 topics that he cherishes: Energy, Information & Time.
Vulgarization
In French, vulgarization is about rendering complicated concepts accessible. Joël de Rosnay is a firm believer of vulgarization through visualization ([[vulgarization-visualization]]) and includes multiples visuals in the Macroscope as a support of its explanations.
The figure of the Macroscope itself is a well-thought metaphor: humanity came up with the Microscope to see the infinitely small & the telescope to see the infinitely great. The Macroscope is the necessary tool that allows to grasp the infinitely complex.
The subtility here according to De Rosnay, is that we're observing complex systems while being part of it. We're the cell observing the human body.
The medium is the message
The Macroscope builds upon the principles it exposes in a few ways:
- Non-linear: The book is non-linear and each chapter can be read separately, it nudges the reader to be active in its discovery of the book.
- Non-directive: It brushes a general picture of the field of System thinking & shares handles to the reader for him/her to create its own understanding.
- The medium is the message: By stepping back from a conventional, linear book structure, De Rosnay teaches us one of the key movement necessary in System thinking which consist in zooming out and being "aware" that we're part of the system we're observing. It is a well-thought parallel.