Scale
The Universal Laws of Life and Death in Organisms, Cities and Companies
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Scale
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Narrated by:
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Bruce Mann
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By:
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Geoffrey West
About this listen
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 life spans 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, 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?
©2017 Geoffrey West (P)2017 Penguin Random HouseCritic Reviews
"This book will expand your thinking from three dimensions to four." (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)
" Scale is a firework display of popular science." (Niall Ferguson)
"This is an important and original book, of immense scope." (Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal)
What listeners say about Scale
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 19-12-2020
Quite a good book
Fairly good book on the topic although a bit long winded. Has some interesting insights.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- laura
- 19-04-2020
Comprehensive and thought provoking for quants
Appreciated West's dedication to grounding his theories in a framework, in contrast to much oversimplistic popular science. West explains existing knowledge and beckons us to consider new ones, turning to sustainability at the end of the book as something of a call to action for polymaths.
The narration was typical of such non fiction: in my opinion too dry.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David Elliott Johnson
- 02-08-2018
Insightful, elegant and enthralling
Deep insights into the patterns and beautiful simplicity of life, the universe and everything. Mr West elegantly and accessibly reveals the simplicity hiding beneath the vast complexity both within and without us. Congratulations on such a extensive feat of imagination, intellect and collaboration. A richly enjoyable, informative and entertaining journey; So good, I’ll read it twice! ;)
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 31-10-2017
Fantastic book, real insights and big questions
amaxing insights into the complex world around us.
also asks big questions of society and where we are going and if it is sustainable.
definitely recommend everyone read this book!
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 20-12-2021
Excruciatingly boring
So long winded and delivered in a painfully haughty manner. He likes physicists and drawing a line through data, all so we can save the world of course. The biology insights were almost interesting but the analysis on cities and companies was almost impossible to endure.
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