One way to begin understanding complex systems is by describing them in detail.
Rachel Carson chronicled events in the oceans, from the cycles of plankton growth to the movement of waves, in accessible, evocative descriptions. (Image via National Women's History Museum.)
"One way to begin understanding complex systems is by describing them in detail: mapping out their parts, their multiple interactions, and how they change through time. Complex systems are often complicated—that is, they have many moving parts that can be hard to identify and define. But the overriding feature of complex systems is that they cannot be managed from the top down. Complex systems display emergent properties and unpredictable adaptations that we cannot identify in advance. But far from being inaccessible, we can learn a lot about such systems by describing what we observe."
Article: How Description Leads to Understanding