The Sciences of the Artificial

Simon's argument is that designed systems — artefacts, organisations, software, economies — require their own science, distinct from the natural sciences: a science of the artificial, concerned with the interface between inner and outer environments. The book introduced the concept of "satisficing" (good enough rather than optimal), the idea that complex systems are nearly decomposable, and the argument that design is the core intellectual activity of the professions. For product direction this is the most foundational book on the shelf: every product is an artificial system, and Simon's framework for thinking about how such systems are designed, bounded, and adapted is more powerful than anything written since. Read alongside Administrative Behavior for the organisational companion and Alexander's Notes on the Synthesis of Form for the design complement. Short, dense, Simon at his most ambitious.