An encyclopedia of examples and methods. Review of the book “Physics of Society: Application of Physical Models in the Description of Social Phenomena” by Yu. L. Slovokhotov

The review notes the book’s volume, consistency and clarity in the narrative of the sections on mathematics and physics, which are used to model social systems, network structures, economic objects, collective actions of people and the collective intelligence of groups of people. The monograph can be considered as a large encyclopedia of examples of the use of mathematical modeling methods and physical analogies to describe social objects. The review highlights two large blocks of information: the first contains attempts at philosophical, historical and methodological generalizations; the second introduces the reader to the mathematical apparatus and physical analogies that serve as the basis for models of social systems of varying levels of complexity. It is noted that the degree of formalization of social objects for the application of mathematical methods and the principles of applying the mathematical apparatus to describe them remain controversial issues.

mathematical models of social phenomena, formalization, principle of analogy, course of mathematics and physics, modeling complex objects, methods of exact sciences, quantitative parameters, forecasting complex systems