Summary of Scale by Geoffrey West

What do the smallest mammals on earth have in common with the largest? What do these mammals have in common with cities? With economies? With companies? It may seem as if everything on Earth is a separate, unique, and diverse organism but author Geoffrey West has discovered an underlying simplicity that unites every living system, including our bodies, our cities, and our businesses. Fascinated with aging and mortality, West sought to answer the question of why we live as long as we do and no longer. In his research, he found some incredible results that changed science forever. Mammals, for example, no matter how diverse, are all scaled versions of one another. In other words, if you know the size of a mammal, you can use scaling laws to learn everything about that mammal, including how much food it eats per day, what its heart rate is, and its lifespan. West, however, didn’t stop there. He then applied his findings to the cities we live in and the businesses we work for. Using scaling laws, you can learn everything you need to know about the growth of a company or city, resulting in some powerful insights into why some businesses thrive and others fail. Even more, he’s using the same theories to predict the future sustainability of the planet. As you read, you’ll learn whether or not Superman and Godzilla can exist, what humans have in common with the blue whale, and how scaling laws can help us predict the future. 

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