Graduate students in [_Social Systems Science_ at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (graduating 1975-1988)](https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-history/degrees-conferred/research/wharton) — the program led by [Russell Ackoff](https://almanac.upenn.edu/archive/volumes/v56/n11/obit.html) — were guided to read a Penguin paperback collection of articles. Across multiple editions, the content changed. Long out of print, the earliest editions are difficult to find.
There are multiple editions of this book. It’s a bit confusing that the 1969 version was first published as a single volume, and the 1981 version seems to have added a second volume. F. E. Emery (editor), Systems thinking: selected readings, Penguin, 1969. * 398 pages * ISBN: 0140800719 F. E. Emery (editor), _Systems thinking: selected readings_, Penguin, 1971. 398 pages F. E. Emery (editor), _Systems thinking: selected readings_, Penguin, 1981. * ISBN: 0140803955 (v.1) Rev. ed. published with the addition of a second volume. * ISBN: 0140803963 (v.2)