New Special Issue "Entropy and Organization in Natural and Social Systems"
This issue is devoted to themes of organization and emergence, which are inherent traits of any complex system out of equilibrium. Complexity and self-organization are observed across systems or scales, be they physical, biological, economic, or sociological resulting in a quest for a fundamental unifying explanation that bridges the divide between living and non-living systems. The “immutable laws of thermodynamics”, as Sir Arthur Eddington put it, have proved to be robust and expansive in their explanatory power, as several articles in this very journal will indicate. The associated ideas of energy, entropy, equilibrium, complexity, etc. are now part of the lexicon of more than the natural sciences; they have invaded fields such as economics, education, psychology, sociology, sustainability, and political science, among others. The works of Nicolas Georgescu-Rogen in economics, Kenneth Bailey in sociology, Stephen Coleman in political science, Rudolf Arnheim in art, and William Doll in education are some classic examples of diffusion of thermodynamics beyond its birth-home in physics. This Special Issue is focused on understanding the diverse ways in which we recognize, define and discuss structures, patterns, and dynamics in different systems and their connection to thermodynamic principles by bringing together scholarship from different fields (natural and social sciences) to help to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue. We invite contributions from researchers in any discipline working on topics related to these topics. Theoretical, experimental, field data-driven, philosophical or even historical articles are welcome, provided they are relevant, novel, and abide by the journal requirements. Since the issue aims to bridge the disciplinary divide, we ask that authors clearly define terms and the approaches taken in a manner comprehensible to scholars from other fields. All papers will undergo rigorous peer-review.
Dr. Ashwin Vaidya
Guest Editor
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/entropy/special_issues/Natural_Social