Scale: The Search for Simplicity and Unity in th

TheformerheadoftheSanteFeInstitute，visionaryphysicistGeoffreyWestisapioneerinthefieldofcomplexityscience，thescienceofemergentsystemsandnetworks.Theterm“complexity”canbemisleading，however，becausewhatmakesWest’sdiscoveriessobeautifulisthathehasfoundanunderlyingsimplicitythatunitestheseeminglycomplexanddiversephenomenaoflivingsystems，includingourbodies，ourcitiesandourbusinesses.Fascinatedbyissuesofagingandmortality，Westappliedtherigorofaphysicisttothebiologicalquestionofwhyweliveaslongaswedoandnolonger.Theresultwasastonishing，andchangedscience，creatinganewunderstandingofenergyuseandmetabolism：Westfoundthatdespitetheriotousdiversityinthesizesofmammals，theyareall，toalargedegree，scaledversionsofeachother.Ifyouknowthesizeofamammal，youcanusescalinglawstolearneverythingfromhowmuchfooditeatsperday，whatitsheart-rateis，howlongitwilltaketomature，itslifespan，andsoon.Furthermore，theefficiencyofthemammal’scirculatorysystemsscalesuppreciselybasedonweight：ifyoucompareamouse，ahumanandanelephantonalogarithmicgraph，youfindwitheverydoublingofaverageweight，aspeciesgets25%moreefficient—andlives25%longer.Thisspeakstoeverythingfromhowlongwecanexpecttolivetohowmanyhoursofsleepweneed.Fundamentally，hehasproven，theissuehastodowiththefractalgeometryofthenetworksthatsupplyenergyandremovewastefromtheorganism'sbody.West'sworkhasbeengame-changingforbiologists，butthenhemadetheevenboldermoveofexploringhiswork'sapplicabilitytocities.Cities，too，areconstellationsofnetworksandlawsofscalabilityrelatewitheerieprecisiontothem.Foreverydoublinginacity'ssize，thecityneeds15%lessroad，electricalwire，andgasstationstosupportthesamepopulation.Moreamazingly，foreverydoublinginsize，citiesproduce15%morepatentsandmorewealth，aswellas15%morecrimeanddisease.Thisbroadpatternlaysthegroundworkforanewscienceofcities.Recently，Westhasappliedhisrevolutionaryworkoncitiesandbiologicallifetothebusinessworld.Thisinvestigationhasledtopowerfulinsightsintowhysomecompaniesthrivewhileothersfail.Theimplicationsofthesediscoveriesarefar-reaching，andarejustbeginningtobeexplored.Scaleisathrillingscientificadventurestoryabouttheelementalnaturallawsthatbindustogetherinsimplebutprofoundways.ThroughthebrilliantmindofGeoffreyWest，wecanenvisionhowcities，companiesandbiologicallifealikearedancingtothesamesimple，powerfultune，howeverdiverseandunrelatedtheyaretoeachother.