Scale: The Universal Laws of Life and Death in Organisms, Cities and Companies
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- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Geoffrey West
- ISBN：1780225598
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Summary
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。
Scale addresses big， urgent questions about global sustainability， population explosion， urbanization， ageing， cancer， human lifespans and the increasing pace of life， but also encourages us to question the world around us。 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， pre-determined lifespans？ Are we just a fascinating experiment in natural selection that is ultimately doomed to fail？ And what is the origin of the magic number 4 that seems to determine much of physiology and life-history from birth to death？
Reviews
Igor Y。
，
This influential， scientific book represents many plausible， mind-boggling ideas。 Partly very overlapping and that is not immediately comprehensible for a newcomer in the field of innovation research。 Overall， however， a great job by Mr。 West！
Peter
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Interesting ideas but extremely repetitive and sidetracked by anecdotes
Hannamari
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A really interesting （although a little lengthy） dive into scaling laws of animals， cities and companies。 Some key learnings for me were that- Different animals， cities or companies are practically scaled versions one one another- There is a trap in thinking about scaling linearly which does not nearly always apply （e。g。 if an animal doubles in size， its metabolic rate only increases by about 75%， rather than 100%）- And a bunch of other theories coloured by enlightening stories。 My favourite was A really interesting （although a little lengthy） dive into scaling laws of animals， cities and companies。 Some key learnings for me were that- Different animals， cities or companies are practically scaled versions one one another- There is a trap in thinking about scaling linearly which does not nearly always apply （e。g。 if an animal doubles in size， its metabolic rate only increases by about 75%， rather than 100%）- And a bunch of other theories coloured by enlightening stories。 My favourite was about why a gigantic movie Godzilla could actually not exist。 。。。more
Michael Dubakov
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Too wordy。 But overall an good one。
Bill Ryerson
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It is interesting， but seems to go on too long。 The biology section at the beginning is familiar to anyone who has taken a biology course。 The city/energy aspects are interesting， but repetitive。
Mattila
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Great， meandering， nerdy book。 Some of it seemed legit （biology scaling efficiency and aging） and some was a bit of a stretch （scaling of cities and businesses）。 Not exactly a page-turner， but would recommend if you'd like a dive into complexity， an attempt at a universal scaling law across disciplines， or just some interesting cocktail chatter about 2d vs 3d growth。 I interpreted it as an analysis of mammalian vascular systems and how they change with size and that impact on aging/heartbeats/me Great， meandering， nerdy book。 Some of it seemed legit （biology scaling efficiency and aging） and some was a bit of a stretch （scaling of cities and businesses）。 Not exactly a page-turner， but would recommend if you'd like a dive into complexity， an attempt at a universal scaling law across disciplines， or just some interesting cocktail chatter about 2d vs 3d growth。 I interpreted it as an analysis of mammalian vascular systems and how they change with size and that impact on aging/heartbeats/metabolism。 He then applies this to cities and other things by substituting transportation and sewage networks for circulatory systems and finding similar 'laws's 。。。more
Karen
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From satisfying to terrifying to hilarious to challenging and everywhere in between， this book will take you on a wildly entertaining and interesting ride， especially if you are like me and deal with issues related to scale directly every single day。 The author， Geoffrey B。 West， is a physicist by training， and worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory （shout out to the town of my birth！）。 However， he does not focus on physics in this book， instead opening up his inquiry into seeing if the univer From satisfying to terrifying to hilarious to challenging and everywhere in between， this book will take you on a wildly entertaining and interesting ride， especially if you are like me and deal with issues related to scale directly every single day。 The author， Geoffrey B。 West， is a physicist by training， and worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory （shout out to the town of my birth！）。 However， he does not focus on physics in this book， instead opening up his inquiry into seeing if the universe provides a "more integrated scientific framework that encompasses a quantitative， predictive， mechanistic theory for understanding the relationship between human-engineered systems， both social and physical， and the 'natural' environment— a framework I call a grand unified theory of sustainability。"In other words， looking at patterns in the natural world， specifically how organism live， scale， reproduce， and die， can we find patterns and lessons that can help us understand and solve issues related to scaling in man-made organizations/systems such as cities and businesses？Spoiler alert， we can！ Oh， and yeah， like with most good science， it also "depends。" But perhaps the most intriguing part of this book is the fact that the more organisms and systems West and his colleagues at the Santa Fe Institute examined， the more seemingly universal patterns revealed themselves。 It is worth the time and effort to read this book just to see all the various data sets and graphs he explains showing how a mouse is like an elephant is like New York City。At the same time， it is entirely possible to read this book at a more cursory level， skimming sections to pull out some of the main lessons without diving deep into specific cases West details。 You do not need an advanced science degree， or any degree at all， to read the book， but people with a geek tendency and an appreciation of data and data visualizations will likely find a bit more delight in the work。West also adds some fun anecdotes about the people behind the various studies and discoveries， if anything I think he went off on these tangents a bit too frequently and the book could have been edited down a bit。 Similarly， I think he could have shaved down a bit of the section on cities （it was clear this was the non-biology-based area where his work was having the most success） and expand more into business and software/technology。 I will admit this criticism likely comes from my own personal bias and desire to better understand challenges related to scaling distributed systems， microservices， and cloud-computing。 I cannot wait to see who takes the baton from West to move this work to its next phase。 。。。more
Pratyush Rai
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This book demonstrates how nature works in exponentials。 It makes sense to read this book to get an understanding of inter-connected scale laws in various features （cities， biology， economy etc）。At best， this book shows the universality of scale laws based on solid data-backed research。 At worst， the writer presents junkie analysis without robust explanations。 Typical correlation vs causation problem most academics suffer with！Yet， this definitely is a fascinating read。 And it feels good to be s This book demonstrates how nature works in exponentials。 It makes sense to read this book to get an understanding of inter-connected scale laws in various features （cities， biology， economy etc）。At best， this book shows the universality of scale laws based on solid data-backed research。 At worst， the writer presents junkie analysis without robust explanations。 Typical correlation vs causation problem most academics suffer with！Yet， this definitely is a fascinating read。 And it feels good to be surprised by some observations in this book。 Worth one read！ Hence 3 stars。 。。。more
Sophie Pesek
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At first， I thought this book was more or less this xkcd。 But by the end， I was pretty engrossed。 Still not sure I really understand complexity theory tbh but I'll keep listening to SFI's podcast and enjoying this messy， elegant field At first， I thought this book was more or less this xkcd。 But by the end， I was pretty engrossed。 Still not sure I really understand complexity theory tbh but I'll keep listening to SFI's podcast and enjoying this messy， elegant field 。。。more
Ninglu
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"Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth， Innovation， Sustainability， and the Pace of Life in Organisms， Cities， Economies and Companies" introduces us to topics such as （often nonlinear） biological scaling patterns， their unexpected corporate analogues， as well as corresponding network-based theories。 Dr。 West also discusses his own research on superlinear city growth （which， unlike organisms or companies， accelerate growth upon increasing size）。I think the book does an excellent job in encouraging "Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth， Innovation， Sustainability， and the Pace of Life in Organisms， Cities， Economies and Companies" introduces us to topics such as （often nonlinear） biological scaling patterns， their unexpected corporate analogues， as well as corresponding network-based theories。 Dr。 West also discusses his own research on superlinear city growth （which， unlike organisms or companies， accelerate growth upon increasing size）。I think the book does an excellent job in encouraging us to better conceptualize exponential growth & decay， and its implications throughout nature and urban systems。 The insights proposed here are widely applicable， and made me reflect on related passages from books I've read in the past （e。g。， regarding metabolism in "Power Sex Suicide" by Nick Lane， and the troubles with forecasting in "The Black Swan" by Nicholas Taleb， etc。） 。。。more
Lauri Ehrenpreis
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Physicist applies his favourite tool - the scientific method - to explain growth and scaling in organisms， cities， and businesses。 He shows that it is possible to explain many properties of all organisms， such as lifespan， heart rate， or metabolic rate by a single equation derived from the structure of blood vessels。 Later， similar methods are applied to cities and businesses and similar equations derived for them as well。 The results on cities are equally interesting， leading to forecast on fut Physicist applies his favourite tool - the scientific method - to explain growth and scaling in organisms， cities， and businesses。 He shows that it is possible to explain many properties of all organisms， such as lifespan， heart rate， or metabolic rate by a single equation derived from the structure of blood vessels。 Later， similar methods are applied to cities and businesses and similar equations derived for them as well。 The results on cities are equally interesting， leading to forecast on future of cities for example。 Business part is a bit less convincing。 。。。more
Rajesh Hegde
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Very useful transdisciplinary book if you want to understand common network features among complex systems like mammals， cities， companies etc。 Essentially a physicist analyzing biological and socioeconomic aspects of our life through a mechanistic approach to see underlying common patterns。Ultimately the author applies this knowledge to address global sustainability。 I had high expectations on this aspect， but I was bit disappointed to see the framework he develops to address global sustainabil Very useful transdisciplinary book if you want to understand common network features among complex systems like mammals， cities， companies etc。 Essentially a physicist analyzing biological and socioeconomic aspects of our life through a mechanistic approach to see underlying common patterns。Ultimately the author applies this knowledge to address global sustainability。 I had high expectations on this aspect， but I was bit disappointed to see the framework he develops to address global sustainability but doesn't propose solutions。 It is up to the reader to take it further。 Overall， a technical book well written for an "intelligent layman"。 。。。more
Jennifer
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This was a difficult book to rate。 There was some amazing ideas and concepts。 I am scientist （geologist） myself and it got me thinking applications in my field。 However， as an author he was terrible。 This was an amazing topic and the biggest crime was that he made it dry as dust。 I felt like I was slogging through it。 He also went off tangent， sometimes explained stuff to much and other places not enough。 Having larger illustrations would help。
Sam
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This book is basically a result of Geoffrey West's many years of research， where he develops a mathematical framework （or laws）， which is supposedly underlies the the general laws of scaling of life。 Using this framework Mr。 West tries to apply this framework to the scaling of the man-made things， like cities and companies。 Well， this is really fantastic non-fiction books， one of the best I've read so far。 Also， I liked Mr。 West's language （style， chise of words， etc。）， though this is not a thin This book is basically a result of Geoffrey West's many years of research， where he develops a mathematical framework （or laws）， which is supposedly underlies the the general laws of scaling of life。 Using this framework Mr。 West tries to apply this framework to the scaling of the man-made things， like cities and companies。 Well， this is really fantastic non-fiction books， one of the best I've read so far。 Also， I liked Mr。 West's language （style， chise of words， etc。）， though this is not a thing， at which you usually pay attention， while reading non-fiction book。 While the book speaks about （presumambly） fundamental things using strong data-based justification， Mr。 West makes his best， to explain the results of his research to the general user。Below are just some interesting points for myself:"[。。。] a crinkly enough line that is space filling can scale as if it's an area。 Its fractality effectively endows it with an additional dimension。 Its conventional Euclidean dimension， [。。。]， still has a value 1， indicating that it's a line， but its fractal dimension is 2， indicating that it's maximally fractal and scaling as if it were area。 In a similar fashion an area， if crinkly enough， can behave as if it's a volume， thereby gaining an effective extra dimension: its Euclidean dimension is 2， indicating that it's an area， but its fractal dimension is 3。" "In a real village we are limited to a community that is imposed on us by sheer proximity resulting from its small size， whereas in a city we are freer to choose ou own "village" by taking advantage of the much greater opportunity and diversity afforded by a greater population and to seek out people whose interests， profession， ethnicity， sexual orientation， and so on are similar to our own" 。。。more
Alexander
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Fascinating read for people of various backgrounds。 West is a great scientist who convincingly links scaling laws to biological phenomena， urban development， and socioeconomic forces affecting companies。My main contention， and the reason for the 4 stars， is West's philosophical approach。 In several places， he needlessly criticizes other realms of science for applying physics ideas to them， as though anyone with a brain could come to his conclusions。 Additionally， his notes about the need for sci Fascinating read for people of various backgrounds。 West is a great scientist who convincingly links scaling laws to biological phenomena， urban development， and socioeconomic forces affecting companies。My main contention， and the reason for the 4 stars， is West's philosophical approach。 In several places， he needlessly criticizes other realms of science for applying physics ideas to them， as though anyone with a brain could come to his conclusions。 Additionally， his notes about the need for science to expand into new areas may have some truth， but they also have limits which West doesn't acknowledge。 （E。g。， quantitative approaches may work when applied to biology or urban systems， but they can only provide context or morality， art， literature， etc。） 。。。more
Brett Salkeld
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One of those rare books that changes the way you see everything。
Pedro Ceneme
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This book is truly a tour de force in explaining the power laws that govern our reality。 West exposition is clear， and his analogies provide enormous insight even if you don’t have a sharp grasp of mathematics。 His discussion about metabolism and biology and the usage of this framework to discuss technological progress， growth of cities and ecological impact are hugely insightful and somewhat scary for us， both as individuals and as a species。 His explanation on why natural selection lead to fra This book is truly a tour de force in explaining the power laws that govern our reality。 West exposition is clear， and his analogies provide enormous insight even if you don’t have a sharp grasp of mathematics。 His discussion about metabolism and biology and the usage of this framework to discuss technological progress， growth of cities and ecological impact are hugely insightful and somewhat scary for us， both as individuals and as a species。 His explanation on why natural selection lead to fractal organisms with tremendous energy efficiency is brilliant， elegant， and very humbling for a species that thinks itself so unique and special。 Despite the conundrum of “perpetual growth” being something that has increasingly dominated public discussion and a huge topical point for sustainability of our economic system， I’ve had never read such a persuasive account on why our society is vulnerable to a sudden collapse。 Despite the homo sapiens being very efficient “machines” when considering our capacity for sophistication and the power we spend to sustain such capacity， the energy requirements of our current lifestyle and the ways we use to obtain such power is not， leading to a very grim and uncertain future。 This demands action now if we want to minimize the odds of such grim future。On the negative side， one feels that this book could be about 20% shorter if West was more concise in his composition and spent less time creating anticipation for topics he would fully discuss two on three chapters down the road。 Moreover， the chapter on companies， while providing some insight， certainly lacks the depth and quality one gets from the remaining of the book， something the author even admits too。 。。。more
Azeem Lakdawalla
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Excellent study and analysis of scale across biological and man-made systems and networks。 Written in the same spirit as all the incredible， accessible， eye-opening books emerging from the SFI。
Dmitry Persiyanov
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- "allometric scaling laws" is a central entity in the book- first part covers how different "laws" can be observed when looking at how organism's metrics like brain sizes， life span， heart rate change with changing body size （mass）- surprisingly， there's a very strong correlation between those- in fact， knowing parameters of one organism and size of another， one can predict all parameters of the second organism- the author tries to develop a predictive quantitative framework for describing how - "allometric scaling laws" is a central entity in the book- first part covers how different "laws" can be observed when looking at how organism's metrics like brain sizes， life span， heart rate change with changing body size （mass）- surprisingly， there's a very strong correlation between those- in fact， knowing parameters of one organism and size of another， one can predict all parameters of the second organism- the author tries to develop a predictive quantitative framework for describing how organisms scale- the theoretical foundation comes down to the mathematical structure of vascular networks- three main basis properties of these networks serve the foundation of the theory: （1） networks are space-filling， （2） terminal units （capillaries） are invariant， （3） energy optimization principle （energy required to sustain a life is minimized in order to maximize energy available for reproduction and growth）- the theory explains， for example， why large organisms （elephants） live longer than smaller ones （rats）- then， author tries to apply the same principles and develop a similar theory for cities- the "network" here is transport and supply networks of the city- surprisingly， all scaling laws are applied here too！- also considers "social networks" as a second essential part of the city- superlinear scaling from population size is observed here- that， for example， explains why "pace of life" in large cities is higher （we all feel it， but there's a scientific explanation！）- a lot of great insights and laws that could help in planning our cities- the final part is about companies and how quantities like "total assets" or "number of patents" grow with company size （number of people）， why companies die so fast while cities don't 。。。more
Lucas Coelho
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Incredibly dense and important read to understand complex systems from biology to culture。 Every once in a while， you read a book that changes your view of the world。 This book was one of them。 Starting my second read now。
Harsh Thaker
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“Scale” how the laws of physics， biology and chemistry affects humans， cities， companies， economy and culture。 A very interesting read on the intersection of Science and Cities。 Required reading for policy makers， politicians and investors。
Lucas Graboski
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This book is a generalist’s fever dream。 West illuminates an elegant universality between the lives of organisms， cities， and companies using beautiful quantitative methods。 In the process he mathematically exposes some key flaws in traditional economic theory。
Dimitrios
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Οι φυσικοί έχουν τη λόξα να ανακαλύψουν μια θεωρία των πάντων。 Αυτό το βιβλίο εξηγεί με πολύ ωραίο， απλό και κομψό τρόπο πώς κάποια πράγματα κλιμακώνονται και πώς αυτή η κλιμάκωση προκύπτει από μερικούς απλούς κανόνες。
Christopher Willey
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So sometimes I feel a little wack-a-do。 I think about sustainability， metabolism's， I follow the energy and systems， I'm interested in Netwerk dynamics， and I see direct connections with how this information can augment what I'm deeply passionate about — which is teaching and learning。 this book was affirming and so many ways。in 2018-2019， after reading a whole bunch of books about creativity and biological science and technology – I realized that there is a metabolic process at play when I thin So sometimes I feel a little wack-a-do。 I think about sustainability， metabolism's， I follow the energy and systems， I'm interested in Netwerk dynamics， and I see direct connections with how this information can augment what I'm deeply passionate about — which is teaching and learning。 this book was affirming and so many ways。in 2018-2019， after reading a whole bunch of books about creativity and biological science and technology – I realized that there is a metabolic process at play when I think about information。 specifically， how much weight/energy does an idea take on when you continue to think about it over time？ how much energy does it take to formulate a brand new idea？ how does one break information apart and utilize it for new processes？ all of these things take information， and related to energy – which is another way to say thermodynamics。I warned you， sometimes I feel a little whack a do。but guess what Dr。 West and Santa Fe Institute confirmed that all of these thoughts are not totally out of line。 That there are decent reasons to rationally connect metabolic rates with energetics systems。 and there， my friends， is why this book was so affirming。 I have found my people – or at least I had found people who think like I do。 I took copious notes while reading this book， and I am sure I will be processing them for months to come。 One of the immediate changes that I applied to teaching and learning was the idea that systems require three stages of energy use。 （Though I add a first stage， or zero stage）Mine – establish， agents within a teaching and learning environment need to understand and or establish concepts/methodologies before expending energy on them。grow — energy is spent in the system growing new connections through the process of emulation and translation。 maintenance/repair — in order for the agents within the teaching and learning environment to truly understand the new information they need to make sure they have time to maintain （deliberately practice） that information。 Additionally time needs to be spent repairing the agents relationship to the information if they do not fully comprehend the concepts and or process。Innovation — this moment in a teaching and learning environment comes towards the end of a section or multiple sections where the facilitator can establish a rationale or request students identify ways to connect desperate pieces of information in creative ways。in this way establish， grow， maintain， repair， innovate Became a meta-structure for the calendars in my classrooms。 empirically speaking — it's working students are responding。 I've written to the Santa Fe Institute in order to try to interact with them in someway shape or form in the future。 。。。more
Steve P
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This is absolutely fascinating， and one of the few resources I can find on its topic。 The graphics are decent and it flows well。 It may have just a bit of bloat and repetitiveness towards the end （and a few too many unnecessary anecdotes from the author's life）， but most of its content is excellent。 This is absolutely fascinating， and one of the few resources I can find on its topic。 The graphics are decent and it flows well。 It may have just a bit of bloat and repetitiveness towards the end （and a few too many unnecessary anecdotes from the author's life）， but most of its content is excellent。 。。。more
Richard Thompson
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This book has some interesting information， but is way too long for the amount of useful information that it presents。 One of the problems， for me at least， is that the author bends over backwards to simplify his explanations and to be non-mathematical。 I think that he could have cut out some of the very basic material without losing most of his audience and could have cut the book back by a hundred pages。 It would have been a lot better if its presentation has been more compact。I like the idea This book has some interesting information， but is way too long for the amount of useful information that it presents。 One of the problems， for me at least， is that the author bends over backwards to simplify his explanations and to be non-mathematical。 I think that he could have cut out some of the very basic material without losing most of his audience and could have cut the book back by a hundred pages。 It would have been a lot better if its presentation has been more compact。I like the idea that scaling laws are pervasive in describing the relationships between different characteristics of life and that this quality caries over into human superorganisms such as cities and corporations。 And I particularly liked the idea that at least in the case of life and perhaps in the case of cities， many of the scaling relationships can be explained as optimizations of network structures through natural selection。 It makes sense。 I'd be willing to bet that some researchers somewhere （probably at the Santa Fe Institute） are working on machine learning algorithms around these ideas and are analyzing outputs of machine learning to see if networks are optimized。 Also， I noticed that the scaling that is analyzed here is almost always done in terms of size。 I'll bet that if you take size out of the equation and look at the interrelationships of other qualities， there will be other places where similar scaling relationships appear and where more conclusions can be drawn about how systems evolve over time。 So I think that there is lot of interesting stuff in this area beyond the scope of this book。 I'll have to read some more。 。。。more
Joe
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A Gem。 At times difficult but worth the effort。Being a casual reader of general science books that occasionally catch my attention， this is one of the best I've come across。 The insights West gleans across disciplines and the similarities highlighted between organisms， cities， and businesses are remarkable。 West wonderfully generalizes and makes accessible some complex ideas regarding power scaling laws， metabolic rates， fractal network optimization， and complex adaptive systems。 Having no prior A Gem。 At times difficult but worth the effort。Being a casual reader of general science books that occasionally catch my attention， this is one of the best I've come across。 The insights West gleans across disciplines and the similarities highlighted between organisms， cities， and businesses are remarkable。 West wonderfully generalizes and makes accessible some complex ideas regarding power scaling laws， metabolic rates， fractal network optimization， and complex adaptive systems。 Having no prior background on any of these subjects， I'm proud to say I now understand them conceptually after reading this。West is a first order writer and educator。 He provides the technical without getting too technical， nudges the reader on through the more difficult parts， and is passionate about his subjects and love of science。 At a certain point you may find yourself having to take the mathematical points for granted but given West's background and the fact that the book has been in print for 6 years makes that easier。 The finer details are available in the appendix for the more advanced reader。 。。。more
Ben Wiener
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We can forgive West’s occasionally meandering style， and sometimes clunky sections and diversions， for this book’s monumental insights and deep， interconnected “network scaling” theory drawing a thread through the evolution of biophysical systems， companies and cities。
Elizabeth
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This is a frustrating book。 The author sets out to explain his theory on why certain aspects of biological systems （plants and animals） scale with the organism's size as they do。 In particular， the theory is supposed to explain why animals' （and plants'） metabolic rates decrease as they increase in size。Unfortunately， when the book arrives at the central point， the theory is not explained at all。 Instead， the reader is briefly told that these scaling laws arise through some internal networks' pr This is a frustrating book。 The author sets out to explain his theory on why certain aspects of biological systems （plants and animals） scale with the organism's size as they do。 In particular， the theory is supposed to explain why animals' （and plants'） metabolic rates decrease as they increase in size。Unfortunately， when the book arrives at the central point， the theory is not explained at all。 Instead， the reader is briefly told that these scaling laws arise through some internal networks' properties。 An online search will teach the reader more about the details of the theory than this book。 An online search taught me that the theory hinges on several （additional） assumptions that are not stipulated in the book。 Maybe these are warranted。 But they should really be revealed in the book。 Another problem is the way the general validity of the theory is supported。 The reader is presented with a table comparing the theory's predictions and data。 But it is not explained how these predictions are derived from the theory。 Both these issues make one wonder whether the theory is as robust as the author seems to imply。After presenting the biological theory， the author continues to develop a theory of how the properties of cities and business scales with their size。 At this point， the book no longer offers a theory。 It only presents some data and speculations about how the observed trends might come about。 Echoing the comments of other readers， I think this book could be much shorter。 It is riddled with unnecessary （and distracting） deviations from the main points， sometimes masking a lack of insight。 Another annoying point about the book is the factual errors that crop up here and there。 For example， the author claims that veinous blood is bluish and that the 'pattern of disease is pretty much the same across the globe。' These obvious errors hamper the biological and sociological credibility of the author。 It makes me wonder what factual issues economists and sociologists would discover。 。。。more
Tiago
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