Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/umls/id/C1516594
NCI: Its fundamental principle is that any physical system can be decomposed into a collection of simple independent local elements each of which interacts only with its immediate neighbors. In classical mechanics a complete description of any physical system is supposed to be specified by giving the values of the various fields (e.g., the electric field, the magnetic field, etc.) at each of the relevant spacetime points."