Wolfgang Weidlich (1931–2015): A Pioneer in Sociophysics

German physicist, Wolfgang Weidlich, has been called “one of the great intellects of the twentieth century” and was the founder of a new field that he termed “sociophysics.” His work harkened back to an earlier body of physics research applied to social systems that was among constituent streams of thought that Walter Isard merged into his early conceptualizations of the theory and methods of regional science. The theoretical approach and the models Weidlich proposed in the 1980s and 1990s—applied, for instance, to human migration systems—were at that time well in line with the expectations of geographers interested in dynamic formalizations to represent socio-spatial transformations. As described in this chapter by Denise Pumain, the work of this physicist inspired many people and marked an important moment in the opening of regional science to system dynamics. It will undoubtedly also have profound repercussions in the coming decades for advancing our understanding of the evolution of public opinions and interactions, as revealed from handling the massive data generated by various uses of mobile sensors and social networks. Those in the regional science community with whom Weidlich came into contact were blessed by their interactions: He was a luminous speaker and a smiling, caring person, a man deeply imbued with humanism and culture. Albeit not widely known among contemporary and current cohorts of regional scientists, Weidlich’s perceptive insights into the dynamics of social systems merit his recognition and inclusion as a Great Mind.