One of the images I have in mind when I contemplate the universe, is that it is con-structed upon a simple pattern of order that may be seen in any and all phenomena, no matter how complex.
-Jonas Salk

Consider carpentry as a field of human activity. "Hammering," "sawing," "screwing," and "measuring," using "hammers," "saws," "nails", "screws," "screwdrivers," "glue guns," "levels," "measuring tapes," and "carpenter's pencils": these words form a vocabulary describing the operations that can be performed in this field, and the means for carrying them out. Now consider business processes as a field of human activity. Processes, process data, activities, messages, rules, process branching, compensating activities, exceptions, sequences, joins, splits, operations, assignments, schedules, rules and time constraints: These likewise form part of a vocabulary describing the operations that can be performed in the field. The tools for realizing these operations are process modeling languages. These languages provide semantics for business processes and unify the different vocabularies of process development, system integration, workflow, human interaction and transaction management, much as blueprints help the architect and the carpenter find a common language that enables them to work together.

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Excerpts from Business Process Management: The Third Wave, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar, ISBN 0-929652-33-9 Off-press November 2002, Meghan-Kiffer Press