Presents a collection of related applications and a theoretical development of a general systems theory. Begins with historical background, the basic features of Cantor's naive set theory, and an introduction to axiomatic set theory. The author then applies the concept of centralizable systems to sociology, uses the modern systems theory to retrace the history of philosophical problems, and generalizes Bellman's principle of optimality. Coverage includes problems related to the structure and application of mathematics; a model of general systems; and unresolved problems in general systems theory.