Evolution in adaptive landscapes : examples of science and technology development

In science and technology studies it is very common to describe structure formation and structure development by using spatial representations. Maps of such knowledge landscapes allow the dynamic character of the research processes to be visualized. In this paper, we discuss how concepts, methods and mathematical models that allow the dynamics and the evolution of complex systems to be described can be applied to this area. A special approach is considered, which we call geometrically oriented evolution theory (G_O_E_THE). First steps towards implementing this new method in the context of the development of national science systems are discussed.