Scale: The Universal Laws of Life, Growth, and Death in Organisms, Cities, and Companies

"Thisissciencewritingaswonderandasinspiration."—TheWallStreetJournalWallStreetJournalFromoneofthemostinfluentialscientistsofourtime,adazzlingexplorationofthehiddenlawsthatgovernthelifecycleofeverythingfromplantsandanimalstothecitieswelivein.VisionaryphysicistGeoffreyWestisapioneerinthefieldofcomplexityscience,thescienceofemergentsystemsandnetworks.Theterm“complexity”canbemisleading,however,becausewhatmakesWest’sdiscoveriessobeautifulisthathehasfoundanunderlyingsimplicitythatunitestheseeminglycomplexanddiversephenomenaoflivingsystems,includingourbodies,ourcitiesandourbusinesses.Fascinatedbyagingandmortality,Westappliedtherigorofaphysicisttothebiologicalquestionofwhyweliveaslongaswedoandnolonger.Theresultwasastonishing,andchangedscience:Westfoundthatdespitetheriotousdiversityinmammals,theyareall,toalargedegree,scaledversionsofeachother.Ifyouknowthesizeofamammal,youcanusescalinglawstolearneverythingfromhowmuchfooditeatsperday,whatitsheart-rateis,howlongitwilltaketomature,itslifespan,andsoon.Furthermore,theefficiencyofthemammal’scirculatorysystemsscalesuppreciselybasedonweight:ifyoucompareamouse,ahumanandanelephantonalogarithmicgraph,youfindwitheverydoublingofaverageweight,aspeciesgets25%moreefficient—andlives25%longer.Fundamentally,hehasproven,theissuehastodowiththefractalgeometryofthenetworksthatsupplyenergyandremovewastefromtheorganism’sbody.West’sworkhasbeengame-changingforbiologists,butthenhemadetheevenboldermoveofexploringhiswork’sapplicability.Cities,too,areconstellationsofnetworksandlawsofscalabilityrelatewitheerieprecisiontothem.Recently,Westhasappliedhisrevolutionaryworktothebusinessworld.Thisinvestigationhasledtopowerfulinsightsintowhysomecompaniesthrivewhileothersfail.Theimplicationsofthesediscoveriesarefar-reaching,andarejustbeginningtobeexplored.Scaleisathrillingscientificadventurestoryabouttheelementalnaturallawsthatbindustogetherinsimplebutprofoundways.ThroughthebrilliantmindofGeoffreyWest,wecanenvisionhowcities,companiesandbiologicallifealikearedancingtothesamesimple,powerfultune.