A network framework of cultural history

Maximilian Schich, Chaoming Song, Yong Yeol Ahn, Alexander Mirsky, Mauro Martino, Albert László Barabási, Dirk Helbing

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

The emergent processes driving cultural history are a product of complex interactions among large numbers of individuals, determined by difficult-to-quantify historical conditions. To characterize these processes, we have reconstructed aggregate intellectual mobility over two millennia through the birth and death locations of more than 150,000 notable individuals. The tools of network and complexity theory were then used to identify characteristic statistical patterns and determine the cultural and historical relevance of deviations. The resulting network of locations provides a macroscopic perspective of cultural history, which helps us to retrace cultural narratives of Europe and North America using large-scale visualization and quantitative dynamical tools and to derive historical trends of cultural centers beyond the scope of specific events or narrow time intervals.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)558-562
Number of pages5
JournalScience
Volume345
Issue number6196
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Aug 2014

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A network framework of cultural history'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this