Critical mass: the physics of society

Speaker: Dr. Philip Ball
25th February

Are there "laws of nature" that influence the ways in which humans behave and organize themselves? Can scientific insights help us find a better way to live?

Philip Ball considers the use of statistical physics in the attempt to understand and predict group behaviour and the functioning of society.

In a journey through some unexpected corners of politics, economics and sociology, he sheds light on how much we can understand of human behaviour when we stop trying to predict the behaviour of individuals; when instead we look at the impact that collective decision-making can have in determining our laws, institutions and customs.

Dr. Philip Ball is a freelance science writer and a consultant editor for Nature. He can often be heard on radio and television, and is the author of several scientific books for the lay reader, including H₂O: A Biography of Water (shortlisted for a National Book Critics Circle Award); and Critical Mass (winner of the 2005 Aventis Prize).

Philip graduated in chemistry from the University of Oxford, and holds a PhD in physics from the University of Bristol.

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