Skip to main content

From Swarms to Societies: Origins of Social Organization

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Principles of Evolution

Part of the book series: The Frontiers Collection ((FRONTCOLL))

Abstract

What are the distinguishing features of socially organized systems, as contrasted to the other known forms of self-organization? Can one define a society in abstract terms, without referring to the specific nature of its elements and thus making the definition applicable to a broad class of systems of various origins? Is social evolution different from biological evolution? This chapter attempts to approach such questions in a general perspective, without technical details and mathematical equations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. E. Schrödinger, What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of a Living Cell (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1944)

    Google Scholar 

  2. A. Turing, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 237, 37 (1952)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. I. Prigogine, R. Lefever, J. Chem. Phys. 48, 1695 (1968)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. G. Nicolis, I. Prigogine, Self-Organization in Nonequilibrium Systems (Wiley, New York, NY, 1977)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  5. S. Mikhailov, Foundations of Synergetics I. Distributed Active Systems, 2nd edn. (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1994)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. J.D. Murray, Mathematical Biology (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1989)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  7. S. Camazine, J.L. Denebourg, N.R. Franks, J. Sneyd, G. Theraulaz, E. Bonabeau, Self-Organization in Biological Systems (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  8. J.D. Farmer, F. Schweitzer, Brownian Agents and Active Particles (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2003)

    Google Scholar 

  9. E. Bonabeau, M. Dorigo, G. Theraulaz, Swarm Intelligence: From Natural to Artificial Systems (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  10. J. Toner, Y. Tu, Phys. Rev. E 58, 4828 (1998)

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. I. Prigogine, R. Herman, Kinetic Theory of Vehicular Traffic (Elsevier, New York, NY, 1971)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  12. D. Helbing, Verkehrsdynamik (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1997)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  13. E.O. Wilson, The Social Insects (Belknap, Cambridge, MA 1971)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Y. Kuramoto, Chemical Oscillations, Waves, and Turbulence (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1984)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  15. A. Pikovsky, M. Rosenblum, J. Kurths, Synchronization: A Universal Concept in Nonlinear Science (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  16. S.C. Manrubia, A.S. Mikhailov, D.H. Zanette, Emergence of Dynamical Order: Synchronization Phenomena in Complex Systems (World Scientific, Singapore, 2004)

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  17. K. Kaneko, I. Tsuda, Complex Systems: Chaos and Beyond (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2001)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  18. D.H. Zanette, A.S. Mikhailov, Phys. Rev. E 58, 872 (1998)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. S.C. Manrubia, A.S. Mikhailov, Europhys. Lett. 53, 451 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. S.C. Manrubia, U. Bastolla, A.S. Mikhailov, Eur. Phys. J. B 23, 497 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. H. Nakao, A.S. Mikhailov, Nat. Phys. 6, 544 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. S.C. Manrubia, A.S. Mikhailov, Phys. Rev. E 60, 1579 (1999)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. S. Gil, A.S. Mikhailov, Phys. Rev. E 79, 026219 (2009)

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. P. Kaluza, M. Vingron, A.S. Mikhailov, Chaos 18, 026113 (2008)

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. A.S. Mikhailov, V. Calenbuhr, From Cells to Societies: Models of Complex Coherent Action (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2002)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander S. Mikhailov .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mikhailov, A.S. (2011). From Swarms to Societies: Origins of Social Organization. In: Meyer-Ortmanns, H., Thurner, S. (eds) Principles of Evolution. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18137-5_16

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18137-5_16

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-18136-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-18137-5

  • eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics