In thermodynamics, temperature is defined as the tendency of an object or system to spontaneously give up energy. [1]

History
In 1878, based on the kinetic theory, Scottish physicist James Maxwell defined temperature of a body as “the average kinetic energy of translation of one of its molecules multiplied by a constant which is the same for all bodies.” [4]

Human thermodynamics
One of the earliest attempts to extrapolate the standard definition of temperature to human systems was the conception of "economic temperature" by Emanuele Sella in 1915. [5]

In 1930, French sociological philosopher Maurice Halbwachs uses the terms social temperature and in another instance moral temperature to allude to the suggestion that the suicide rate of a particular group of humans could be considered as a gauge of the moral temperature of the group: [8]

“The number of suicides [in a region] can be considered a sort of thermometric indicator which informs us of the condition of the mores, of the moral temperature of a group.”

In economic thermodynamics, temperature T has been used in measure the level of spending or income per person by authors such as German metallurgist Jürgen Mimkes (2005) and John Bryant (2007). [6]

In 2009, Chinese physicist Yi-Fang Chang suggested that social temperature could be defined by the following equation:

where is an average value of the social kinetic energy. [9] In this sense, in theory, as a type of human thermodynamic instrument or indicator, one could use GPS tracking devices to measure the kinetic energy, or the sum of ½ the masses of the human particles times their respective average velocities squared, of a system of human molecules under study and thus get a hypothetical reading of temperature of a social system.

In his 2010 article “Stokes Integral of Economic Growth”, Mimkes argues that GDP per capita may be representative of the temperature of the economic system. [7]


Human systems, interpersonal hotness, and beauty
In human social systems, comprised of human molecules, the definition of temperature becomes very complex. In this sence, the conception of the physical or neurological "hotness" of a person becomes a paramount issue.

The adjacent, November 26, 2008, video "Thermodynamics of HotForWords", made by American chemical engineer Libb Thims, gives a loose idea the difficulties involved in the assignment of temperatures, in reference to the Kelvin scale, in human life.

In general, the concept of temperature in human thermodynamics is one of the most difficult terms to understand and model. Beyond this, how does one, for instance, correlated the "physical heat" of a person, an example of which is shown below via thirty-person composite Hot or Not photos, with the reading on a standard thermometer?

Moreover, how does one correlate "temperature" with neurological heat, e.g. the fact that intellect correlates with sexual attractiveness. [2] These are deep questions in both human chemistry and human thermodynamics. [3]

References
1. Schroeder, Daniel, V. (2000). An Introduction to Thermal Physics. New York: Addison Wesley Longman.
2. Buss, David. (1994). The Evolution of Desire. New York: Basic Books.
3. (a) Thims, Libb. (2007). Human Chemistry (Volume One), (preview), (ch. 2: "Attraction and Repulsion", pgs. 147-182). Morrisville, NC: LuLu.
(b) Thims, Libb. (2007). Human Chemistry (Volume Two), (preview), (ch. 16: "Human Thermodynamics", pgs. 653-699). Morrisville, NC: LuLu.
4. (a) Maxwell, James C. (1878). “Tait’s ‘Thermodynamics’ (I)”, (pgs. 257-59). Nature, Jan. 31.
(b) Maxwell, James C. (1878). “Tait’s ‘Thermodynamics’ (II)”, (pgs. 278-81). Nature, Feb. 07.
5. Erreygers, Guido. (2001). Economics and Interdisciplinary Exchange, (pg. 160-163). Routledge.
6. (a) Mimkes, Jürgen and Aruka, Y. (2005). “Carnot Process of Wealth Distribution” in Econophysics of Wealth Distributions, edited by A. Chatterjee, S. Yarlagadda, B. Chakrabarti. Springer.
(b) Bryant, John. (2007). “A Thermodynamic Theory of Economics”, International Journal of Exergy, 4, (pgs. 302-37).
7. Mimkes, Jurgen. (2010). “Stokes Integral of Economic Growth: Calculus and Solow Model” (abstract), Physica A, 389: 1665-76.
8. Halbwachs, Maurice. (1930). The Causes of Suicide (social temperature, pg. 289; moral temperature, pg. 6). Taylor and Francis.
9. Chang, Yi-Fang. (2009). “Social Synergetics, Social Physics, and Research of Fundamental Laws in Social Complex Systems” (abstract), eprint arXiv: 0911.1155.

Further reading
● Chang, Hasok. (2004). Inventing Temperature: Measurement and Scientific Progress. Oxford University Press.

External links
● Temperature – Wikipedia.