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Designing and Managing Complex
Systems
This page intentionally left blank
Designing and Managing
Complex Systems

David Moriarty
Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier
125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS, United Kingdom
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Copyright Ó 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by
the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).

Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and
experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional
practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in
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and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

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 This book is dedicated to my father,
David Patrick Moriarty, who, during my
early years, sparked my interest in many
of the subjects featured in it.
This page intentionally left blank
Contents

Author biography xiii

Preface xv
Acknowledgments xxiii

Part I
Cybernetics
1.1 Control and communication

Part II
Learning from systems
2.1 The simplification imperative
2.1.1 Model making 19
2.1.1.1 Chosen simplification 20
2.1.1.2 Forced simplification 22
2.1.1.3 Entrenched simplification 22
2.1.2 Necessary complexity and systems thinking 24

2.2 The language of systems

2.2.1 Interlocking systems of reality 29
2.2.2 Structure and function of complex systems 30
2.2.3 Natural dynamics of complex systems 32
2.2.4 The need for complex systems 32
2.2.5 Tractability and effective complexity 34
2.2.5.1 The observer effect 37
2.2.6 Cynefin framework 38
2.2.6.1 Clear domain 40
2.2.6.2 Complicated domain 40
2.2.6.3 Complex domain 41

vii
viii Contents

2.2.6.4 Chaotic domain 41

2.2.6.5 Disorder 42
2.2.6.6 The clear/chaotic boundary 42
2.2.7 How humans affect complexity 42

2.3 Classes of systems

2.3.1 Classes of systems 45
2.3.2 Physical systems 46
2.3.2.1 Big Bang chemistry 46
2.3.2.2 Complexity and uncertainty at the subatomic level 48
2.3.3 Biological systems 51
2.3.3.1 Minimum gene sets 54
2.3.4 Entropy and constraint 55
2.3.4.1 Emergence 59
2.3.5 A consilient approach to the evolution of complex systems 62
2.3.6 Societal systems 63
2.3.7 Informational systems 65
2.3.8 Technical systems 65
2.3.8.1 Theoretic minima 67
2.3.9 Sociotechnical systems 68

2.4 Neurobiological systems

2.4.1 Introduction 70
2.4.2 Structure and function of the nervous system 70
2.4.2.1 The central nervous systems 71
2.4.2.2 Neurons in the central nervous system 74
2.4.2.3 Learning 76
2.4.2.4 The peripheral nervous system 78
2.4.3 Information processing 78
2.4.4 Functional scales in neurobiology 79
2.4.5 Decision-making 79
2.4.5.1 ACT-R 80
2.4.5.2 The two modes of human decision-making 83
2.4.5.3 Heuristics and biases 87
2.4.5.4 Algorithmic decision-making 90
2.4.6 Levels of performance 91
2.4.6.1 Human failure modes 93
2.4.7 Neural dynamics and connectomics 96
2.4.8 Brain plasticity 99
2.4.9 The autonomic nervous system 100
2.4.9.1 Homeostasis 100
2.4.9.2 Allostasis 100
2.4.10 Feedback 102
2.4.11 The reticular activating system 103
2.4.12 Reflexes 104
 Contents ix

2.5 Sociotechnical systems

2.5.1 Introduction 107
2.5.2 Scales in sociotechnical systems 109
2.5.3 Taylorism, Fordism, and requisite metasystems 110
2.5.4 Dynamic safety model 112
2.5.4.1 Trade-offs 116
2.5.4.2 Procedural drift 118
2.5.4.3 Domain shift 119
2.5.5 The role of humans in sociotechnical systems 119
2.5.5.1 Joint cognitive systems 121

2.6 Consilient dynamics across scales

2.6.1 Introduction 123
2.6.2 Summary of concepts covered 124

Part III
Creating and managing systems
3.1 Introduction to part 3
3.1.1 Introduction 133
3.1.2 Definitions 133
3.1.3 Dynamics 134
3.1.4 Building up our understanding of systems 134

3.2 Structure and function

3.2.1 Designing structure and assigning function 137
3.2.2 The Viable System Model 139
3.2.3 The Revised Viable System Model (rVSM) 141
3.2.3.1 SYS1 e implementation 143
3.2.3.2 SYS2 e communication 144
3.2.3.3 SYS3 e coordination 146
3.2.3.4 SYS4 e decision 148
3.2.3.5 SYS5 e identity 159
3.2.3.6 Alert signaling network 160
3.2.3.7 Transducers, amplifiers, and reducers 161

3.3 Capability and adaptive capacity

3.3.1 Capability 163
3.3.2 Anticipating system dynamics 164
3.3.3 Adaptive capacity 165
x Contents

3.4 Engineering resilience

3.4.1 Introduction 171
3.4.2 A note about terminology 172
3.4.3 Resilience Engineering 173
3.4.4 Resilience and the operating point 174
3.4.4.1 System dynamics at the boundaries 175
3.4.5 Systemic failure modes and counterforces 177
3.4.6 Engineering resilience 179
3.4.6.1 The cornerstones of Resilience Engineering 179
3.4.6.2 The principles of Resilience Engineering 180
3.4.6.3 Resilient behaviors 182
3.4.7 Just culture 183

3.5 Assessing the system properties of your organization

3.5.1 Introduction 185
3.5.2 Structure 186
3.5.2.1 SYS1 186
3.5.2.2 SYS2 186
3.5.2.3 SYS3 186
3.5.2.4 SYS4 187
3.5.2.5 SYS5 188
3.5.2.6 Transducers, complexity amplifiers, and complexity
reducers 188
3.5.3 Function 188
3.5.4 Capability 188
3.5.5 Adaptive capacity 189
3.5.6 Resilience 189
3.5.7 Conclusion 190

Part IV
Case studies
4.1 Challenger and Columbia
4.1.1 Analysis 198

4.2 Walmart, FEMA, and Hurricane Katrina

4.2.1 Analysis 204

4.3 Lake Peigneur

4.3.1 Analysis 208
 Contents xi

4.4 The water temples of Bali

4.4.1 Analysis 213

4.5 The global financial crisis

4.5.1 Analysis 218

4.6 Continental Airlines

4.6.1 Analysis 224

4.7 Three Mile Island

4.7.1 Analysis 229

4.8 Cybersyn and the trucking strike

4.8.1 Analysis 235

4.9 Biological and informational viruses

4.9.1 Analysis 242

4.10 Netflix
4.10.1 Analysis 248

4.11 Fukushima
4.11.1 Analysis 253

4.12 The Mumbai Dabbawalas

4.12.1 Analysis 256

4.13 Flash Crash

4.13.1 Analysis 261

4.14 Alphafold 2
4.14.1 Analysis 265
xii Contents

Part V
Conclusion
5.1 Consilience with the arts
5.1.1 Introduction 269
5.1.2 Simple patterns and complex sounds 269
5.1.3 Complexity in the visual arts 272

5.2 Conclusion

References 279
Glossary and abbreviations 287
Index 291
Author biography

David Moriarty has worked as a medical doctor and as an airline pilot.

Additionally, he has degrees in neuroscience and human factors and special-
izes in system design and complexity management. He works as a consultant
specializing in these areas. Comments and feedback about this book can be
sent to systems.thinking@hotmail.com.

Also by David Moriarty

Practical Human Factors for Pilots

xiii
This page intentionally left blank
Preface

Ashamed lest I appear to myself as a pure theorist, unwilling to touch any practical
task.
Plato, Ep. 7, 328c
Planning a book such as this requires some effort. As well as deciding what you
want to say, you also need to map out how you intend to say it. The first step is to
write an outline. The outline includes a detailed description of the planned
chapters with a summary of their content. By the time I was happy with the
outline, I was on the 14th arrangement of my chapter list. I had spent a great deal
of time chopping and changing the order to try and ensure that the concepts that I
was planning to present would follow a logical order. Learning is, by necessity, a
deliberate and sequential process, and when trying to explain different strands
that will come together later in the book, you have to hope that the reader has
enough faith that it will all make sense in the end even if it is not immediately
clear as they work through the text.
To make matters worse, a book about complexity is bound to contain some
complex ideas. The challenge for the writer is to present these ideas, not only in
some sort of logical order, but also with sufficient detail so that the reader can
mentally build their conceptual “house of cards” as they progress through the
book. It was the search for this logical sequence, and the planning of how much
detail to include that led me to try out 13 different plans before settling on the one
that forms the basis of this book.
Suffice it to say, the field of complexity is a huge, ungainly entity encom-
passing knowledge from disciplines across the entire spectrum of human
knowledge. As the saying goes, there is only one way to eat an elephantdone
bite at a time. However, I would add that there is still a decent chance that it will
be a messy process.
I do not claim to present a unified view of complex systems or a complete
perspective on the subject. I am convinced that both goals are impossible as
things stand now. At the end of this book, there will be no breathing of sighs of
relief because you now have all the tools that you need to manage complex
systems. However, rather than putting in as much as I can about the subject, I
have tried to take a more focused approach.

xv
xvi Preface

Even before complexity science was recognized as a discipline in its own

right, researchers and practitioners in other fields would either develop or un-
cover concepts that might ultimately add to the knowledge base of complexity.
Sometimes ideas would flare up and capture the collective imaginations of a
diverse group of academics before burning out and becoming all but forgotten.
Other ideas would fizzle out almost immediately. Whether popular or not, all
these findings are like rocks strewn across the bed of a shallow river. Some of
these rocks will allow us to make progress crossing the river by setting us up to
stretch our foot out for the next rock beyond. Some rocks will be loose and leave
us soaking wet. In progressing to the other side, we must select a path whereby
each rock we choose sets us up for the next one. There may be other stable rocks
to the left and the right of our path, and there are other potential routes apart from
the one we have chosen. However, we cannot step on every rock in the river
during our crossing.
That is to say that in selecting the concepts that are included in this book, I
have had to choose a specific combination that I think are complementary. It
would be impossible to outline every topic that falls under the umbrella of
complexity science as this would leave the book just a jumbled mess of ideas.
I should also explain why I chose the particular quote that I did to preface this
introduction. If I had to pick one adjective that a reader might use to describe this
book after reading it, I would hope that word would be “useful.” The science of
complexity is a fascinating one, and it would be very easy to engage and dazzle
you with a plethora of stories concerning slime molds, merging galaxies, and the
intricacies of the human brain. While I hope that the substance of this book will
be interesting to you, I am far keener that the substance of this book will be useful
to you. In trying to describe a framework through which we can understand,
design, and manage complex systems, I have tried to select areas of study, which
will come together to form as rational a description as possible. The domain of
complexity science does cross many traditional academic disciplines, and it
would be impossible to present a complete picture of everything in the space of
one book. Instead, I have tried to curate the findings from various fields of study
and crystalize those findings into something that is accessible and useful. Fellow
researchers may well vilify me for not including material from one field or
another (including the mycologists and their slime molds, although they do get a
brief mention later), but this has not been done haphazardly. Given a choice
between an unstructured book filled with fascinating stories and a structured
book that presents selected concepts in a manner that takes the reader through a
logical sequence, I choose the latter.
And so, to the matter at hand. This book will require some patience and
engagement from the reader. It is divided into four parts, with each part building
on the parts that came before.
l The first part looks at the history of one particularly fruitful approach to
complexity and gives the reader an overview of the background and scope
of complexity science.
 Preface xvii

l The second part looks at our current understanding of complex systems in

various domains (physical, biological, technical, social, and organiza-
tional). It introduces the idea that there are similarities between the dy-
namics of successful systems across domains.
l The third part uses the preceding material to develop principles that can be
applied to design and manage complex systems successfully.
l The final part focuses on case studies concerning failures and successes
within complex systems. It demonstrates how the presence or absence of
advantageous design and control principles can lead to success or failure.
While I could try and summarize my conclusions here, the value to the reader
will be in being able to assemble the diverse parts of this particular academic
jigsaw to reach the same conclusions themselves by the time they finish Part 4 of
the book. From my teaching experience, I know that being told something is far
less useful than working something out for oneself.
With the idea of utility in mind, this book is also designed to be accessible. As
the book proceeds, you will be faced with an increasing amount of nomenclature,
and so a glossary is included to allow you to find a reminder of the meaning of a
particular term without having to go back through the preceding chapters. Oc-
casionally, to recap on a particularly important set of concepts, a summary may
be presented.
Before we begin, it is worth saying one more thing. Human beings aren’t built
for complexity. In Part 2, I will go into more detail about the limitations of the
human brain, despite all of its amazing capabilities. We have created, probed,
and discovered systems that change and move in ways more rapid and complex
for us to keep up with. Even before the modern era, humans evolved an inbuilt
imperative to simplify the deluge of stimuli that bombards us as we interact with
the world. As the world accelerates, our simplification imperative grows as well.
For the most part, this instinct to simplify works for us and allows us to function
reasonably well as participants in this complex universe. However, we mustn’t
fool ourselves into thinking that our simplified understanding of a particular
aspect of this world entirely matches reality. The model train set will allow the
carriages to move between two points but won’t replicate ticket pricing, driver’s
unions, safety programs, or government regulation. There will be times when we
need to delve down into the granular structure of the systems that surround us in
the full knowledge that a more straightforward representation exists on the
surface. Our simplification imperative can make us want to shy away from the
complex because to engage with it will require more cognitive capacity than we
may be willing to surrender to the task. However, from time to time, this is the
instinct that we must fight as we dive below the surface, for it is beneath the
surface that the hidden dynamics unfold that determine what happens up above.
As I have stated, the science of complexity encompasses findings from a
diverse number of fields. There is also a subtle but persuasive theory that the
dynamics observed in one sphere of human inquiry may well be the same as
xviii Preface

those observed in another field, but that the increasing specialization of academic
disciplines means that we are less likely to spot the crossover. My interest in this
idea came initially from a book by the noted evolutionary biologist Edward O.
Wilson. Published in 1998, “Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge” was an
exploration of this idea with particular emphasis on the crossover that occurs
between the sciences and the humanities. While the following book focuses more
on the crossover between the natural sciences and the social sciences, especially
management, Wilson’s work has acted as the catalyst for my exploration of this
subject. His book is a fascinating and illuminating read1.
Consilience is probably a novel word for most people, but its structure may
seem vaguely familiar, perhaps through its similarities to conscience, science, or
silence. Indeed, even as I type, my computer is telling me that it is alien and
unknown, being underlined in red, a sight familiar to inept typists such as me.
However, the seed of this book was planted in my brain when I was first intro-
duced to this concept after reading Edward O. Wilson’s book.
I read Consilience shortly after it was published in 1998. Wilson’s beguiling
and compelling thesis was about the unification of knowledge across fields and
suggested that there were universal dynamics that revealed themselves through
the natural sciences, the social sciences, and through the humanities and that
these dynamics may actually be the same across these diverse disciplines. Like
different religions trying to uncover the same truths about God, the various
spheres of human inquiry were revealing the fundamental dynamics of reality but
were using different language to describe them. Consilience, or, in Edward
Wilson’s terms, the unity of knowledge, suggests that profound insight in one
field of human understanding is likely to be replicated in another area and that
natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities share more similarities than
most academics would care to admit.
Seeing these similarities becomes progressively harder and harder as our
knowledge of these disciplines deepens and diverges. The growth of human
knowledge necessarily means that academics have more to learn about
increasingly specialized areas of study. Before the Renaissance, educated people
could speak with equal fluency about the natural sciences as well as about
literature, art, and music. A classicist may also be a scientist. Because of the
dearth of source material from which to learn, any knowledge was precious, and
an educated person made less distinction between the academic disciplines.
However, at some point, our access to stored knowledge became easier, and
the depth of that accumulated knowledge reached a certain critical mass whereby
we had to give up on the idea that we could learn it all. Limitations of cognition
meant that we either had to know a little bit about a lot or a lot about a little bit. It
could be argued that this was the inflection point after which we began to lose the
opportunity to see how those areas of study related to each other. For example,
careful microscopic examination of the wood does not allow us to see how the
tree fits into the forest ecosystem.
 Preface xix

In his 1959 book “The Two Cultures,” CP Snow argued that the divergence
between the arts and the sciences was stymying the application of knowledge to
solve global problems2. In later works, he also included the social sciences as a
third culture that had also diverged from the first two. Snow argued that it was not
just that academic inquiry had divided into separate fields out of necessity.
Instead, those following a particular academic path (or a particular “culture”)
were also likely to view other cultures with suspicion. Those who study the
humanities might look with disdain at the perceived illiteracy of the natural
scientists. Those in the natural sciences might be appalled at the scientific
ignorance of those in the humanities. Rather than accepting that we necessarily
have to give up certain avenues of study due to limitations of time and cognitive
capacity, the emergence of these separated cultures has also created different
academic factions. Their entrenched suspicion of those outside of their particular
group not only limits transdisciplinary understanding but creates different aca-
demic languages, which make it difficult to understand each other’s worlds even
when the opportunity to collaborate does arise. It is a viewpoint that led directly
to Edward O. Wilson’s book.
At this point, I must hold my hands up and say that I, too, am a product of this
gradual academic pigeon-holing. From age 16 onward, I had to nail my colors to
the flagpole and accept that I would go down the scientific route. Even though I
enjoyed other areas of study, limitations of time and my planned career for the
future meant that there was only so much I could study, and so subjects that may
well have been a help to me, in the end, had to fall by the wayside. Although my
early focus was on the biological and medical sciences, I tried to maintain an
enthusiastic but admittedly amateurish interest in other areas of study, which will
hopefully prove sufficient for this book’s purposes. It will also become clear to
the reader that some of the material on which this book is based is derived from
safety-critical industries. The reason for this is simple. It was academics in the
field of industrial safety that made some of the important breakthroughs in how
we view complex systems as they attempted to find ways to understand and
manage them more successfully. Some of the examples used in the book come
from safety-critical industries such as aviation or nuclear, but whether your or-
ganization is safety-critical or not, the principles are the same. It is not just safety
failures that stop a complex system from working, and the dynamics that cause
commercial failures often have similar roots in the underlying mechanisms of
complex systems.
More importantly, I think we have been hamstrung by the increasing
specialization of academic inquiry and our intransigence to look outside our
narrow area of study to find fruitful help in other disciplines. Throughout history,
human endeavor has led us toward unpicking the complex. Neurobiology,
quantum physics, cosmology, macroeconomicsdno complex system is immune
from our relentless inquiries. But when we consider the broad range of systems
that exhibit complexity, despite the plethora of disciplines through which these
systems are typically investigated, they all have one characteristic in
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
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sociosque nomine vocare. Nemo autem fuit qui responderet. Illi
decem numero erant, armati omnes. Robinson, qui ex præfecto
acceperat inter captivos tres [254]esse qui non nisi metu coacti
venerant in sceleris societatem, Vendredi gubernatoremque ad eos
mittit ; cùmque illi veniam orâssent impetrâssentque, tum armis
redditis eos, quæ ipse præceperit, sedulò exsequi jubet.

Interim qui posteriori scaphâ advecti fuerant, sustulêre

clamorem. Redditur et major à Robinsonis commilitonibus ; hoc enim
ille jusserat, ut advenæ in nemora allicerentur. Illi scilicet, voce
respondentium vix auditâ, sparsi hinc inde per silvas vagantur. Sed
nemine reperto, cùm jam advesperasceret, noctem veriti, ad
scapham redeunt, cursu et vano errore fessi. Atque, ut quisque
occurrit, excipitur ab insidiantibus, quorum in manus sex ita
inciderunt. Cùm quatuor alii reverterentur, mittitur ad hos unus
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triginta abhinc passibus, quinquaginta milites ex arce eduxisse,
[255]qui ipsos cæderent. Tum Robinson armorum strepitum unà
omnes edere jussit, ad verba legati confirmanda. Priùsque illi terrore
quàm bello vincuntur. « An verò delicti veniam impetraturi sumus ? »
quidam ex iis tandem rogat. Cui præfectus in virgultis latens sic
acclamavit : « Vocem meam agnoscis, Thoma Smith ! Si illicò arma è
manibus ceciderint, vitam habebitis, Atkins excepto. » Scilicet ille
seditionis concitor fuerat. Tum universi statim arma abjicere. Atkins
autem exclamans, præfectum obtestatur ut sibi parcat ignoscatque
commune esse omnium scelus. Præfectus respondet, se, quod
unum posset, procuratoris eum clementiæ commendaturum ; quod
illi placuerit, exspectet.
 Quo facto, Vendredi cum tribus nautis ad illos vinciendos
mittitur. Jam Robinson, qui procuratoris personam agebat, accessit
cum præfecto. Hic autem de captivis eos elegit, quibus eam naturæ
bonitatem noverat ut ipsos sceleris commissi verè pœ [256]niteret : hi
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sperabat. Quomodo autem cum illis egerit, et quæ posteà acciderint,
restat ut narretur.
[257]
 Caput trigesimum.

Fundata colonia. — Robinson relinquit insulam. — Quod accidit

in patriam redeunti. — Quomodo vitam deinde honestam et beatam
degit.

Q uibus culpa remissa fuerat, hi, ante arcem collecti, decem

numero erant. Robinson, procuratoris nomine, qualem eum
esse ducebant, declarat, eâ lege ipsos seditionis veniam
impetraturos ut præfectum legitimum in recuperandâ nave adjuvent.
Quæ sententia etiam captivis denuntiatur. Tum utrisque captivis
simul et liberis unà conversandi copia data est, ut sese mutuò in fide
servandâ confirmarent, cùm hæc sola sontibus pateret salutis via.

Interim fabro lignario mandatur ut al [258]terius scaphæ

perforatæ carinam reficiat. Tum altera præfecto, altera gubernatori
traditur, nautis inter utrumque divisis, cunctique apparato bellico
instructi vela faciunt.

Robinson, cujus fortuna ex eventu hujus incœpti pendebat,

tantâ animi perturbatione sollicitudineque agitabatur, ut stare loco
nesciret : nunc in speluncâ sedere, nunc in collem adscendere ; et
quia noctu oculorum cessabat usus, auribus captare si fortè aliquid è
nave audiret. Augebatur sollicitudo exspectatione signi de quo inter
eos convenerat. Triplex scilicet explosio nondum audita erat, etsi
mediâ nocte ingruente.

Et jam spes omnis abierat, cùm subito fit sonitus è longinquo.

Robinson, quasi è somno repentè excitatus, aures erigit. Sequitur
altera explosio, et deinde tertia. Nunc constat navem esse
expugnatam ; nunc certò in Europam profecturus est. Tum amens
lætitiâ devolare, socium in [259]gramine recubantem excitare,
amplecti, deinde ad arcem currere, sarcinasque raptim colligere.

Die nondum exorto, ad collem rursus properat ; eòque ubi navis

in anchoris stabat, oculos intendit, lucem diei plenam exspectans :
ac brevì conspicit præfectum navis, collem, nonnullis ipsum
comitantibus, conscendentem. Robinson uno impetu ejus in
amplexus provolat. Tum præfectus narrat se nave feliciter admodum
potitum esse, nemine occiso, nec vulnerato quidem ; scilicet obscurâ
nocte ita evenisse, ut nec agnosceretur ipse, nec comites à nave
prohiberentur. Turbulentissimos seditionis auctores sibi quidem
obstitisse, captos verò in vincula fuisse conjectos. His dictis, cibos
quosdam delicatiores è nave afferri jubet, lætique omnes lautissimo
convivio recreati sunt.

Deinde præfectus Robinsonem rogavit, quidnam nunc sibi

faciendum mandaret, quo ipsi gratiam persolveret. Huic
Robin [260]son : « Præter hesterna promissa, hæc tria te rogabo :
primùm quidem ut hìc commoreris, donec pater socii mei redierit ;
tum ut me meosque in nave excipias ; denique ut seditionis
auctoribus veniam condones. Hæc sola delicti pœna sit in hâc insulâ
deseri. »
 Præfectus, hæc pacta conventaque quàm religiosissimè
servaturum se pollicitus, captivos adduci jubet, pessimisque eorum
designatis pœnam irrogatam denuntiat ; neque illi sine lætitiâ hoc
audierunt, conscii quippe capitalis admissi facinoris. Robinson eos
benignè docuit quomodo victum quærerent, illisque res suas omnes
relicturum se promisit.

Dum noster hæc loquitur, Vendredi magno cursu anhelans

nuntiat patrem cum Hispanis advenisse. Cuncti igitur illis obviam
properant. Vendredi, cæteros prævertens, in amplexus patris
præcurrerat. Robinson non sine admiratione duas mulieres inter
advenas conspexit ; Dominicusque [261]interrogatus docet uxores
esse duorum Hispanorum, quas illi in ipsâ regione susceperant. Hi
verò ubi audierunt Robinsonem mox profecturum, nonnullosque
remiges in insulâ relicturum esse, rogaverunt ut sibi quoque liceret in
eâ remanere ; se enim, omnibus auditis quæ alii memoraverant,
jucundiorem illâ sibi sedem non optare. Quibus precibus Robinson
annuit libentissimè ; gaudebat inprimis duos hìc spectatâ probitate
viros relinquere. Sperabat enim fore ut eorum operâ et exemplo
cæteri ad meliorem frugem reducerentur. Hâc mente alios omnes
eorum auctoritati subjicere constituit.

Itaque universos arcessi jubet : sex Angli erant, et duo Hispani

cum uxoribus. Quibus convocatis, suam Robinson declaravit
voluntatem, his verbis : « Neminem fore spero, qui mihi jus deneget
de rebus meis, id est, hâc insulâ, cum omnibus quæ in eâ sunt,
arbitrio meo statuendi. Opto autem ut omnium cujusque
ves [262]trûm, qui hìc remansuri estis, conditio sit beatissima ; atque
ad id assequendum, certas leges non habentibus meum est
instituere, vestrum autem sequi.
 « Hæc igitur accipite.

« Hos ambo Hispanos ego meos in insula vicarios constituo. Hi

præcipient ; vos parebitis. His committo apparatum omnem bellicum,
variaque instrumenta, eâ tamen lege ut illi vobis necessaria
præbeant ; vos autem cum iis honeste in pace vivatis.

« Ac principio Deum colite ; nulla enim civitas firma, nisi

fundamentum sit pietas.

« Proxima pietati sit justitia. Jus suum cuique tribuatur, ac ne cui

quis noceat.

« De cæteris ambo Hispani viderint. Illi fines agris assignabunt,

juraque, prout res postulabit, privata publicaque statuent.

« Forsan et olim dabitur de vobis audire, aut me aliquandò

juvabit extre [263]mum in hâc insulâ mihi carissimâ vitæ, tempus
agere. Væ illi qui intereà instituta mea transgressus fuerit ! Ego
hominem in cymbâ impositum fluctibus sævissima tempestate
agitatis tradam hauriendum. »

His auditis, assensêre omnes, obedientiamque polliciti sunt.

Tum noster ea notavit quæ secum aveheret : scilicet 1º. vestem

è pellibus à se ipso confectam, cum umbellâ ; 2º. hastam propriâ
quoque arte perfectam, arcum, securimque siliceam ; 3º. psittacum,
canem villosum, lamasque duos ; 4º. varia instrumenta, quæ, cùm
esset solitarius, fabricaverat. His cunctis in navem transportatis,
secundoque spirante vento, proximo die proficisci constituunt.
Jamque tempus adest. Tum Robinson lacrymans eos qui remansuri
erant ad concordiam pietatemque sequendam denuò hortatus,
ultimum vale acclamat, et comitibus Vendredi Dominico [264]que
navem conscendit. Hic inter transeundum morbo assumptus est.

Felicissimus ad Portsmuthiam cursus fuit. Cùm navem

Robinson opportunè hìc invenisset Hamburgum tendentem, ab
Anglicæ navis præfecto discessit, atque alteram conscendere
properavit : hæc brevì solvit anchoras.

Dulcissima jam Robinsonis patria è longinquo cernitur ; jam in

ostium Albis advenêre, cùm subitò sæva tempestas exoritur,
navemque vi magna in oram conjicit. Tum quidquid valet diligentia,
quidquid peritia, adhibetur ; sed frustrà : venti vehementia, omni
conatu major, navem abreptam in arenas agit tantâ vi, ut carina
disrumperetur. Irruit extemplo in eam ingens aquæ vis, adeò ut de eâ
conservandâ omnes desperarent. Navigantibus vix datur copia in
scaphas desiliendi, ut morti, si fieri possit, se eripiant.

Sic igitur Robinson cùm denuò naufragium fecisset, miser in

portum proximum [265]advenit, neque quidquam servavit præter
canem, qui vectum in scaphâ dominum natando secutus est, et
psittacum in humero ejus sedentem. Multis post diebus, accepit inter
varias res servatas umbellam vestemque pelliceam fuisse repertas.

Portus ad quem scapha appulerat, octo millia passuum ab

Hamburgo aberat. Audiit patrem suum senem bonâ valetudine
gaudere, matrem verò optimam vixisse ; quodquidem gravissimo
eum dolore affecit. Jam navi Hamburgum profectus, quatuor
horarum spatio eò advenit. Cùm sequente cane et psittaco humero
insidente in terram descendisset, per circumfusam spectantium
turbam in hospitium proximum se contulit. Inde nuntio ad patrem
misso, curavit ut bonus senex ad filium revisendum cautè
præpararetur, quòd pater tantæ non capax lætitiæ occubuisset.

Jam filius ipse per plateas satis sibi cognitas ad patrios penates
provolat, domumque assecutus in patris gaudio trepidantis
[266]amplexus ruit. « Ô pater ! — Ô fili ! » Hæc tantùm ambo eloqui
potuerunt. Muti, trepidi, spirituque intercluso, alter alterius è collo
pendent, donec vis benigna lacrymarum animum utriusque
oppressum levavit.

Intereà Vendredi miratur frequentem tectis urbem, stupetque

inhians innumera rerum miracula, quæ nunc undique oculis
obversantur. Quorum adspectu satiari non potuit. Ac primo die
nullam rem ab aliâ distinguebat, tantâ animi perturbatione, ut esset
quasi hebes oculis et animo.

Pater Robinsonis institor erat. Proptereà optavit ut filius in

mercaturâ exerceretur, seque præstaret eum qui sibi defuncto
succederet. Robinson verò, labori consuetudine induratus, patrem
rogavit, ut sibi liceret scriniariorum artem discere. Itaque cum socio
scriniarii cujusdam disciplinæ se tradidit, atque, intra unius anni
curriculum, uterque in eâ arte tantùm profecerat, ut ipsi magistrorum
dignitatem assequerentur. [267]Quo facto, officinâ communi institutâ,
amicitiam inter se, summo studiorum voluntatumque consensu, ad
extremum vitæ diem coluerunt.

Et sic perpetuâ tranquillitate, sanitate industriâque fortunati

ambo vixêre ad summam senectutem ; posterique libenter retinebunt
duorum memoriam hominum, qui cæteris documento erunt,
quomodo suæ quisque felicitatis artifex esse possit.
FINIS.
 RŌBINSON CRŪSŌEUS
Latīnē scrīpsit F. J. Goffaux, hūmāniōrum litterārum ōlim professor

Puerīs dant crustula blandī

Doctōrēs, elementa velint ut discere prīma.
Hor. Sat. 1, v. 25.
 Lēctōrī.

S aepe animadversum est adulēscentulīs prīmum Latīnārum

litterārum līmen ingressīs nōnnihil, fastīdiī rērum gravitāte
afferrī. Itaque exīstimāvī, nōn parum aetātī tenerae esse prōfutūrum,
sī quis susciperet aliquod ejusmodī opusculum, quod et docēret
simul et oblectāret. Atque is mihi vīsus est, quī fīnem hunc
assequerētur, scrīptus apud Anglōs dē Rōbinsōnis cāsibus liber, dē
quō Russoeus noster : Hunc prīmum leget Aemilius.

Cum autem Rōbinsōnis Anglicī fābulāris historia multa

dīgressiōne luxuriet, atque in omnibus, quae ad puerōs pertinent,
satietātī fastīdiōque sit occurrendum, placuit potissimum sēligere
optima ex similī dē eōdem [vi] Rōbinsōne fābulā, quam Germānicē
scrīpsit Henrīcus Campe. Hunc igitur auctōrem eō libentius secūtus
fuī, quod ejus nārrātiō aspersa sit sententiīs quibus juvenum animī
ad pietātem, cōnstantiam et sōbrietātem īnfōrmentur.

Habēs itaque, Lēctor benevole, libellum nūllā sānē aliā laude

commendandum, nisi meō dē juventūte bene merendī studiō. Quō
impulsus, in id praecipuē incubuī, ut, aptātō māteriae stylō,
grammaticās, quantum fierī poterat, rēgulās inculcārem ; nōn
splendidā gravīque (rēs enim nōn ferēbat), sed simplicī et ad captum
legentium accommodātā ōrātiōne. Quātenus scopum attigerim,
jūdicābunt, quī exiguum hoc opus legere nōn dēdignābuntur ; sed
ōrō meminerint mē tīrōnum grātiā scrīpsisse.
 Index capitum

I. Rōbinsōnis ortus, indolēs, ēducātiō. — Cupīdō peregrīnandī. —

Discessus ā parentibus. — Profectiō in Angliam. — Īnfausta initia.
— Tempestās. — Nāvis obruta flūctibus. — Rōbinson, aliā
exceptus, advenit Londinium, unde solvit ad Guineam.
II. Rōbinson pergit iter. — Mala ōmina. — Nāvis incēnsa. — Alia
flūctibus jactāta. — Advehitur ad īnsulās Canāriās. — Dēscrīptiō
locī illīus amoenissimī. — Inde profectus ad Americam naufragium
facit.
III. Sēra Rōbinsōnis paenitentia. — Dēspērātiō. — Vītam miserē
sustentat. — Habitat in spēluncā.
IV. Rōbinson reperit pōma eximiae magnitūdinis. — Sibi cōnficit
varia īnstrūmenta. — Fūniculōs. — Strātum. — Umbellam. —
Pēram. — Kalendārium.
V. Rōbinson īnsulam perlūstrat. — Magnus terror. — In gaudium
vertitur. — Dēscrīptiō lamae. — Ūnum occīdit. — Sed igne caret.
— Carnem mōre Tartarōrum coquit.
VI. Turbō ingēns. — Tempestās, unde magnum Rōbinsōnī
beneficium. — Taedium sōlitūdinis. — Arānea.
VII. Praeda ingēns. — Dēest rēs māximē necessāria. — Vōta irrita.
— Ambulātiō. — Natātiō. — Rēs variae.
VIII. Lama mānsuēfacta. — Pullī. — Rēs variae.
IX. Terrae mōtus. — Mōns ignivomus. — Lamae vī aquārum abreptī.
— Spēlunca Rōbinsōnis dīruta.
X. Rōbinson habitāculum reficit. — Parat sibi alimenta in hiemem. —
Imbribus continuīs impedītus domī, fingit vāsa. — Nectit rēte. —
Arcum et sagittās cōnficit.
XI. Summae Rōbinsōnis miseriae. — Ab īnsectīs īnfestātur. —
Vestēs ex pellibus sibi cōnficit. — Incidit in gravem morbum.
XII. Convalēscit ex morbō. — Māximī lūctūs. — Parva gaudia. —
Psittacus.
XIII. Multus labor in excavandā scaphā. — Rōbinsōnis cōnstantia. —
Quōmodo diem inter variās occupātiōnēs distribuit. — In bellicīs
artibus sē exercet.
XIV. Rōbinson īnsulam peragrat. — Vestīgia hominum reperit. —
Summus terror. — Prōspicit crānia, ossa, manūs, pedēs. — Quod
territō et fugientī accidit.
XV. Epulae atrōcēs. — Proelium. — Fortitūdō Rōbinsōnis. —
Vendredi servātus.
XVI. Rōbinson parātus ad obsidiōnem ferendam. — Vendredi
dēscrībitur. — Quārē sīc appellātus.
XVII. Orīgō rēgiae potestātis. — Rōbinson abundat opibus. — Habet
subditōs. — Vendredi novō vīvendī genere dēlectātur.
XVIII. Suspīciō in laetitiam et admīrātiōnem versa. — Cāsus quī
rīsum legentī movēbit. — Rēbus secundīs adversae levantur.
XIX. Rōbinson habitāculum fossā et pālīs mūnit. — Docet socium
Germānicē loquī. — Ambō scapham fabricāre statuunt.
XX. Pluviārum tempus. — Sociī nectunt strāgulās, rētia. — Cymba
cōnficitur.
XXI. Rōbinson et Vendredi, īnsulā relictā, marī sē committunt. —
Summa perīcula in quibus versantur.
XXII. Ambō ē perīculō sē expediunt. — Reversī in īnsulam, hortum
colunt. — Piscantur ; natant ; vēnantur. — Novum iter suscipiunt.
XXIII. Rēs multae et magnae. — Tempestās. — Fragor tonitruum. —
Sonitus aēneī tormentī. — Magna nāvis dērelicta. — Vendredi ad
illam adnatat. — Ignōta animālia. — Canis. — Capra. — Ratis.
XXIV. Multae opēs repertae. — Cibī. — Supellēx. — Īnstrūmenta. —
Vestēs. — Sclopēta. — Rōbinson repente dīves.
XXV. Vendredi servat Rōbinsōnem. — Opēs ā lītore domum
advectae auxiliō canis et lamārum. — Mūnīmenta arcī addita. —
Rōbinson, faber factus et agricola, vīvit beātē.
XXVI. Adsunt ! adsunt ! — Arma inter sociōs dīviduntur. — Parātur
bellum. — Duo virī adversus quīnquāgintā. — Victōris clēmentia.
XXVII. Vendredi patrem suum invenit. — Hispānus nārrat suōs
cāsūs.
XXVIII. Cōntiō advocāta. — Lēgātī missī. — Lēgēs īnstitūtae. —
Spēlunca. — Mōnstrum.
XXIX. Nāvis anglica appulsa ad īnsulam. — Quō cāsū. — Magna
Rōbinsōnis in praefectum merita. — Spēs līberātiōnis.
XXX. Fundāta colōnia. — Rōbinson relinquit īnsulam. — Quod
accidit in patriam redeuntī. — Quōmodo vītam deinde honestam et
beātam dēgit.

[1]

RŌBINSON CRŪSŌEUS.
 Caput prīmum.

Rōbinsōnis ortus, indolēs, ēducātiō. — Cupīdō peregrīnandī. —

Discessus ā parentibus. — Profectiō in Angliam. — Īnfausta initia. —
Tempestās. — Nāvis obruta flūctibus. — Rōbinson, aliā exceptus,
advenit Londinium, unde solvit ad Guineam.

E rat Hamburgī, in urbe apud Germānōs celeberrimā, vir

quīdam, cui nōmen Rōbinson : suscēpit ex uxōre trēs fīliōs.

Māximus nātū, armōrum studiōsior quam librōrum, tractāre ā

tenerīs gladiōs, ōr [2]dine mīlitārī puerōs īnstruere, aurēs vīcīnōrum
repetītō tympanī sonitū obtundere ; vixque adulēscēns factus, ē fictīs
certāminibus ad vēra prōcurrēns, mīlitiae nōmen suum dedit.

Cum ille didicisset per aliquot mēnsēs stāre et sequī, vertere

corpus ad sinistram dexteramve, exārsit bellum Turcās inter et
Germānōs, in quō cum multa ēgregiē fēcisset, cecidit adversō
cōnfossus vulnere.

Alter, quī litterās in gymnasiō discēbat, ut causās in forō ageret,

saepe prīncipātum inter aequālēs in solitīs concertātiōnibus
obtinēbat. Nec parva erat parentum magistrōrumque dē juvene
exspectātiō ; sed cum forte in fēriīs septembrālibus corpore adhūc
calidō aquam frīgidam imprūdentius bibisset, in morbum incidit, et
intrā paucōs diēs exstīnctus est.

Jam nūllus supererat praeter minimum nātū, quī Crusoe

appellābātur. Itaque suam in eō spem omnem ambō parentēs
collocāvērunt, quippe quī ipsīs esset ūni [3]cus. Nihil eō cārius in
terrīs habēbant ; sed amor eōrum nōn erat rēctae ratiōnī
cōnsentāneus.

Cum enim dēbuissent certam eī vīvendī disciplīnam trādere,

multaque ūtilia simul et jūcunda eum docēre, quae ipsum ōlim
bonum et beātum effēcissent, omnia fīliolō indulsērunt ; quī cum
lūdere quam studēre māllet, tōtam illam aetātem ; quae bonīs artibus
vacāre poterat, in ōtiō et nūgīs cōnsūmpsit.

Pater optābat ut ille mercātūrae sē addīceret : quā quidem

proximē ab agricultūrā nihil melius, nihil frūctuōsius, nihil homine
līberō dignius. Hoc vērō minimē fīliō placuit ; sē mālle ait orbem
terrārum peragrāre, ut multās rēs novās audīre, multās vidēre
posset.

Jam annum aetātis decimum septimum attigerat, plūrimum vērō

temporis trīverat in ōtiō. Quotīdiē autem patrem urgēbat, ut ab ipsō
peregrīnandī licentiam impetrāret, quam ille nōlēbat concēdere.
[4]Quādam diē, cum mōre suō praeter portum cursitāret, incidit in
ūnum ex aequālibus, nāvarchī cujusdam fīlium, quī in eō erat ut cum
patre Londinium nāvigāret.

Interrogāvit eum sodālis an adjungere sē socium itineris vellet :

« Libenter, ait Crūsōeus ; vereor autem ut parentēs id mihi
concēdant. — Hui ! respondet alter, sine veniā proficīscendum est.
Post trēs hebdomadēs reducēs erimus : parentibus vērō nūntiandum
cūrābis, quōnam terrārum migrāveris. — Careō autem pecūniā, ait
Crūsōeus. — Nihil rēfert, alter excipit, siquidem hoc tibi cōnstābit
grātīs. »

Rōbinson noster, rē paululum dēlīberātā, īlicō manum cum

alterō jungēns, « Eugē, ō bone, exclāmat ! ībō tēcum ; sed cōnfestim
nāvem cōnscendāmus. » Tum mandat cuidam, ut hōrīs aliquot
ēlāpsīs patrem conveniat, moneatque fīlium, ad Angliam invīsendam
prōfectum, mox reditūrum esse. Quibus perāctīs, ambō sodālēs
nāvem cōnscendunt.
[5]

Nec multō post nautae solvunt ancorās, vēlaque ventō

intendunt. Nāvis agī incipit ; nāvarchusque, tribus explōsīs tormentīs
bellicīs, urbī valedīcit. Stābat Rōbinson in stegā, et vix
praeconceptam ex optātō diū itinere laetitiam capiēbat.

Caelum serēnum erat, ventusque adeō secundus, ut brevī

Hamburgum ē cōnspectū abeuntium sē subdūxerit. Posterā diē, jam
eō dēvēnerant ubi Albis in mare effluit, et nunc altum tenent. Quantā
vērō Rōbinson admīrātiōne stupuit, cum maris immēnsitātem
intuēns, suprā sē nihil praeter caelum, atque nihil ante, pōne, circā
sē nisi aquam cōnspexit !

Fuit per bīduum āēr serēnus, ventusque bellē flāvit

nāvigantibus ; tertiō autem diē caelum nūbibus tegī, ventusque
vehementior esse coepit. Ac prīmō fulgura ēmicant, quasi tōtum
flammīs caelum ārdēret. Deinde ingruunt tenebrae velutī in altissimā
nocte : tonitrua cum ingentī fragōre resonāre, imber dē caelō ruere
torrentī [6]similis, mare intumēscēns flūctūs ciēre. Nāvis modo ad
nūbēs tollī, modo praeceps ferrī in profundum. Quantus fūnium
strepitus ! quantus in nāvī tumultus ! quod nactus erat, quisque
complectēbātur, nē dējicerētur ipse.

Rōbinson, īnsuētus maris adulēscēns, cum jactātiōnem maris

ferre nōn posset, nauseā correptus est, et tam male sē habuit, ut
exspīrantī similis vidērētur.

« Heu ! parentēs optimī ! heu ! iterum iterumque exclāmāvit,

numquam vōs ego revīsam. »

« Bone Deus ! exclāmant nautae pallidī dēspērantēsque,

periimus ! abreptī sunt mālī, nāvis aquā undequāque complētur. »
Hīs audītīs, Rōbinson, quī in cubīlī nauticō sedēbat, membrīs
fluentibus, retrō collāpsus est. Cēterī ad antliās accurrere, ut nāvem,
sī fierī possit, suprā aquam retineant. Nāvarchus interim tormenta
iterum iterumque explōsit, ut nāvibus, sī quae forte nōn longē
abessent, si [7]gnifīcāret sē magnō in discrīmine versārī. Rōbinson,
quī hujus fragōris causam ignōrābat, ratus omnia periisse, dēnuō
exanimātus est.

Et jam prō sē quisque aquam exhaurīre ; sed in īnfimō nāvis

tabulātō crēscēbat aquae altitūdō.

Nihil praeter mortem erat in exspectātiōne. Prōjiciuntur quidem

ad nāvem sublevandam tormenta, dōlia, mercium sarcinae ; sed nihil
haec omnia prōficiunt.

Intereā nāvis alia, audītō sonitū tormentōrum, quae ad

significandum discrīmen explōsa fuērunt, scapham ēmīserat ad
servandōs saltem nāvigantēs ; sed aestus flūctuum obstābat,
quōminus accēderet. Attamen propius ita dēmum subiit, ut iīs, quī in
nāvī essent, fūnis prōjicerētur. Cujus ope scapha tandem attracta
est, et in eam quisque dēsiliit, ut salūtī cōnsuleret. Rōbinson, quī
jacēbat dēfūnctō similis, ā quibusdam nautīs, quōs adulēscentulī
miserēbat, in eamdem conjectus [8]est. Vix paululum ā nāvī
recesserant, cum illa ante oculōs flūctibus obruta est. Et nunc
fēlīcius contigit, ut tempestās paulātim sēdārētur : aliter cymba, tot
hominibus onerāta ipsa quoque flūctibus absorpta fuisset. Tandem,
post multa perīcula, pervēnit ad nāvem, quam omnēs exceptī sunt.

Nāvis illa Londinium tendēbat. Quattuor ēlāpsīs diēbus, ad

ōstium Tamesis pervēnit, quīntā vērō in portū jēcit ancorās. Mox
quisque in terram dēscendit, laetus quod ē perīculō ēvāsisset. Vix
Rōbinson pedem ē nāve extulerat, cum eum incessit cupīdō
vīsendae immēnsae urbis Londiniī. Quidquid erat in oculīs
spectantem ita dētinuit, ut praeteritī immemor dē futūrō quidem
minimē cūrāret. Tandem suus eum stomachus admonuit, Londiniī
haud secus ac alibī terrārum cibīs opus esse. Itaque adiit praefectum
ejus nāvis quae ipsum advēxerat, rogāvitque ut licēret ipsīus
mēnsae assidēre. Ille vērō li [9]benter juvenem excēpit ; atque inter
prandendum ab hospite quaerit, quō cōnsiliō et quid factūrus hūc
vēnerit ? Tum Rōbinson ingenuē professus est, sē animī recreandī
causā hoc iter suscēpisse, atque īnsciīs parentibus ; jam autem sē
esse omnīnō inopem. « Īnsciīs parentibus tuīs ? clāmat nauta
exterritus : bone Deus ! utinam hoc ego prius rescīvissem ! numquam
sānē ā mē impetrāssēs, ut ego tē in nāvem meam admitterem. »
Rōbinson, dēmissīs oculīs, vultūque rubōre suffūsō, siluit. Nec dēsiit
bonus nauta monēre adulēscentem, quam graviter peccāvisset,
addiditque illum numquam aliquā ex parte beātum esse posse,
dōnec ā suīs veniam ōrāvisset. Rōbinson commōtus multum flēvit :
« Sed quid agam nunc ? » rogat ille cum singultū.