Systems Practices as Common Sense

On July 16, 1945 the first nuclear bomb was detonated at White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico. The Trinity nuclear test forever changed the world. There were massive developments that arose from this huge event like Interstate Freeways and the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE). Additionally Systems Engineering emerged. It was matured and honed to such a level that many in the field started to view it as common sense. Unfortunately what might be considered common sense or just training from one perspective might be viewed as significant knowledge and education from another perspective. This knowledge was captured in the complex collection of for profit companies, non-profit companies, think tanks, and national labs. Now we are faced with the dilemma that many of these institutions have disappeared and many of the practitioners have died. This book is an attempt to capture some of this knowledge and pass it to the next generation.