Systems Theory treats the mathematical background and foundations of the engineering discipline 'Cybernetics'. Thereby one wants to exert influence on a dynamical system (which is usually given by an ordinary differential equation (ODE)), such that a desired behavior is achieved.
For instance, in classical mechanics, the motion of a mass point is determined by acting forces. In 'Systems and Control Theory', one wonders how these forces have to be chosen such that a prescribed movement of the mass point is accomplished.

• Introduction and motivation  
• Controllability
• Stabilization by feedback  
• Obervability  
• Observer and controller design  
• Linear-quadratic optimal control