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

Scale addresses big, urgent questions about global sustainability, population explosion, urbanization, ageing, cancer, human life spans and the increasing pace of life but also encourages us to question the world around us. Geoffrey West's research centres on a quest to find unifying principles and patterns connecting everything, from cells and ecosystems to cities, social networks and businesses. Why can we live for 120 years but not for a thousand? Why does the pace of life continually increase? Why do mice live for just two or three years and elephants for up to 75? Why do companies behave like mice, and are they all destined to die? Do cities, companies and human beings have natural, predetermined life spans? Are we just a fascinating experiment in natural selection that is ultimately doomed to fail? And what is the origin of the magic number four that seems to determine much of physiology and life history from birth to death?

"Disappointing book from an author who is capable of much better" according to Aaron C. Brown. I had high hopes for this book, because the author is a great researcher and lecturer. However this book does not reflect his usual high standard.The beginning is terrible. He shows four graphs to illustrate scaling relationships, none of which have intelligible scales. I received an advance uncorrected copy, so perhaps some of the issues will be corrected in the final version, but the flaws run deeper than typographic.All the charts have log-log scales, although they are labeled in three different formats--scientific notation, exponent only or integer. There's an old saying that everything looks linear in log-log plots. The re. A MUST read if you are hoping to better understand how the world really works Really enjoying this book. A MUST read if you are hoping to better understand how the world really works!. "Provocative But Flawed" according to Gary E. Hoover. This is a very intriguing book. My own interests relate to the efforts at understanding the longevity and mortality of companies and non-profit enterprises. Surprisingly little good work has been done in this area. Compared with the multitude of research in business and finance, the study of company or industry "demographics" is negligible.I believe there may be discoverable general principles, including mathematical ones, underlying the rise and fall of companies and industries. But I found little real insight here.In looking at companies, the author claims they "die" when liquidated, bankrupt, acquired, or merged. But of cour