Foundation series
Cliodynamics () is a transdisciplinary area of research that integrates cultural evolution, economic history/cliometrics, macrosociology, the mathematical modeling of historical processes during the "longue durée", and the construction and analysis of historical databases. Asimov's fictional version of this discipline, which he called "psychohistory", is a major plot device in his Foundation series. Psychohistory differs from cliodynamics in its attempt to connect individuals directly to societal dynamics and its supernaturally high degree of accuracy. In contrast, cliodynamics analyses societies as groups of individuals nested within ever-larger groups, ultimately and indirectly comprising a society.