SCALING (LAW of QUARTER POWER)
Charles François (2004). SCALING (LAW of QUARTER POWER), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 2931.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2931 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
This law is stated as follows by R. LEWIN (1999, p.35):
- “… many biological variables tend to increase or decrease in relation to body mass raised to the power of one quarter or three quarters”
This law “holds true for the smallest micro-organism to the largest animal, the blue whale… a staggering 21 orders of magnitude … (and it) remains intact even in the subcellular domain, down to the mitonchondria which provide the cell's energy and, beyond that to the molecular complexes within the mitochondria… to 27 orders of magnitude” (Ibid)
According to G. WEST, as quoted by LEWIN: “You find scaling everywhere in the Universe … as it reflects something of the general properties of the system” (Ibid, p.37)
Scaling is closely related to the nature of networks at the various levels of organization and energy flows .
See also
Space syntax