The Number Four Determines the Biosphere Around Us

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Logarithmically, all kinds of physiological quantities line up very closely on a straight line. They all have slopes that are simple multiples of the number one quarter. So to boil all this down into something extremely simple, it says that in terms of the way nature scales from the smallest to the largest, it's completely dominated by this extraordinarily simple number One Quarter.

Have you ever thought about why the average human lifespan is 80 years? Or why smaller animals, like mice, live for much shorter periods compared to large animals like blue whales?

To help answer these questions, we're joined by Geoffrey West, Shannan Distinguished Professor and Former President of the Santa Fe Institute. Geoffrey will introduce us to the concept of scaling in complex systems, and how it helps explain not just lifespan, but a whole range of physiological characteristics in mammals.

In Parts 2 and 3, he will explain what creates these laws, and how they apply not just to mammals, but to companies and cities as well.

Resources and links: