"There is a general feeling at the present time that a worth-while new subject must lie behind the structure and functioning of a large class of complex devices and organism, typified by animal nervous systems and computers... [The 1962 book The Design of Engineering Systems by William Gosling] is part of a search for such subject. [It] tries to establish a strictly practical subject, to guide engineers in designing complicated systems... Gosling touches upon many aspects of the design processes that are common to a range of engineering projects, and so produces a useful reference book for the engineer who wishes to acquaint himself with the methods used by some of his colleagues. One is left, however, with the impression that it is still a collection of logically unconnected techniques. Merely to impose a common terminology may be useful, but it does not raire "systems engineering" to the level of a new subject. Even the terminology is a little forced: we may accept "throughput" in cases where the meaning of "input" and "output" have become fused, but must we then refer to output as "ongoing throughput"?"