Ludwig Boltzmann:

“The molecules are like individuals, … and the properties of gases only remain unaltered, because the number of htese molecules, which on the average have a given state, is constant,”

“This opens a broad perspective, if we do not only think of mechanical objects. Let’s consider to apply this method to the statistics of living beings, society, sociology and so forth.”

Benoit Mandelbrot:

“There is a great temptation to consider the exchanges of money which occur in economic interaction as analogous to the exchanges of energy which occur in physical shocks between gas molecules.”

Yakovenko, V.M., “Econophysics, Statistical Mechanics Approach to” v.1 September 23, 2007 Encyclopedia of Complexity and System Science.