作者:
Geoffrey West 出版社: Penguin Random House USA Ex 副标题: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies 出版年: 2017-5-16 页数: 496 定价: GBP 22.56 装帧: Hardcover ISBN: 9781594205583
From one of the most influential scientists of our time, a dazzling exploration of the hidden laws that govern the life cycle of everything from plants and animals to the cities we live in.
Visionary physicist Geoffrey West is a pioneer in the field of complexity science, the science of emergent systems and networks. The term “complexity” can be misleading, however, because wha...
From one of the most influential scientists of our time, a dazzling exploration of the hidden laws that govern the life cycle of everything from plants and animals to the cities we live in.
Visionary physicist Geoffrey West is a pioneer in the field of complexity science, the science of emergent systems and networks. The term “complexity” can be misleading, however, because what makes West’s discoveries so beautiful is that he has found an underlying simplicity that unites the seemingly complex and diverse phenomena of living systems, including our bodies, our cities and our businesses.
Fascinated by aging and mortality, West applied the rigor of a physicist to the biological question of why we live as long as we do and no longer. The result was astonishing, and changed science: West found that despite the riotous diversity in mammals, they are all, to a large degree, scaled versions of each other. If you know the size of a mammal, you can use scaling laws to learn everything from how much food it eats per day, what its heart-rate is, how long it will take to mature, its lifespan, and so on. Furthermore, the efficiency of the mammal’s circulatory systems scales up precisely based on weight: if you compare a mouse, a human and an elephant on a logarithmic graph, you find with every doubling of average weight, a species gets 25% more efficient—and lives 25% longer. Fundamentally, he has proven, the issue has to do with the fractal geometry of the networks that supply energy and remove waste from the organism’s body.
West’s work has been game-changing for biologists, but then he made the even bolder move of exploring his work’s applicability. Cities, too, are constellations of networks and laws of scalability relate with eerie precision to them. Recently, West has applied his revolutionary work to the business world. This investigation has led to powerful insights into why some companies thrive while others fail. The implications of these discoveries are far-reaching, and are just beginning to be explored. Scale is a thrilling scientific adventure story about the elemental natural laws that bind us together in simple but profound ways. Through the brilliant mind of Geoffrey West, we can envision how cities, companies and biological life alike are dancing to the same simple, powerful tune.
作者简介
· · · · · ·
Geoffrey West is a theoretical physicist whose primary interests have been in fundamental questions in physics and biology. West is a Senior Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a distinguished professor at the Sante Fe Institute, where he served as the president from 2005-2009. In 2006 he was named to Time’s list of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World.”
marvelous masterpiece! the reading experience is nothing short of an immersive and joyful roaming in the scientific exploration into the most profound and intriguing subject of our time. The grand-coa...marvelous masterpiece! the reading experience is nothing short of an immersive and joyful roaming in the scientific exploration into the most profound and intriguing subject of our time. The grand-coarsed and cross-discipline methodology throughout the book has proven to be refreshing and inspiring. Strongly recommend~(展开)
布谷传声
中信出版社2018版
秋叶
中信出版社2018版
左其盛
中信出版社2018版
康康 𝑨𝒏𝒏 ❛‿˂✧
中信出版社2018版
旅行瓶
中信出版社2018版
福寿康宁•白建辉
中信出版社2018版
易小加
中信出版社2018版
花花我来守护
中信出版社2018版
dollar
中信出版社2018版
3 有用 daniel小鱼干 2018-09-19 18:07:01
这本书会让你见识到物理学家风格的思维方法——“尺度分析”，和它带来的惊人结论。尺度分析本来只研究物理问题，而作者韦斯特把这个方法用在了生物学、社会科学和经济学上，结果一出手就等于横扫。这本书能让你见识一点世界的底层逻辑，了解一点物理学的套路，又能治疗某些流行的妄想。它难度系数有点高、道理有点硬，非常值得你来挑战一下。
0 有用 小毛巾 2022-10-29 10:56:52 甘肃
世界尽头是数学(就是讲城市的那几章太长了我把第八章最后几节跳掉了)
0 有用 石川 2024-02-13 22:18:05 新加坡
虽然是讲复杂科学的，但是其实只着重讲了复杂科学中的一个方向：规模规律。但是得出规模规律的结论似乎又不需要太多复杂科学的基础，只要将企业、城市、生物看作一个整体，在这个颗粒度上进行统计似乎就可以。开篇引人入胜，但后面的章节的核心思想似乎可以用十分之一的篇幅说清楚。
0 有用 武僧 2021-04-10 16:10:01
marvelous masterpiece! the reading experience is nothing short of an immersive and joyful roaming in the scientific exploration into the most profound and intriguing subject of our time. The grand-coa... marvelous masterpiece! the reading experience is nothing short of an immersive and joyful roaming in the scientific exploration into the most profound and intriguing subject of our time. The grand-coarsed and cross-discipline methodology throughout the book has proven to be refreshing and inspiring. Strongly recommend~ (展开)
0 有用 gang 2019-01-31 11:40:29
好书，作者对生物和社会组织，使用科学的方法，一数据分析的方式，推导出规模化扩张的一般规律。也解答诸如为什么蚂蚁这么小，却可以举起自身重量若干倍的重物等。
0 有用 石川 2024-02-13 22:18:05 新加坡
虽然是讲复杂科学的，但是其实只着重讲了复杂科学中的一个方向：规模规律。但是得出规模规律的结论似乎又不需要太多复杂科学的基础，只要将企业、城市、生物看作一个整体，在这个颗粒度上进行统计似乎就可以。开篇引人入胜，但后面的章节的核心思想似乎可以用十分之一的篇幅说清楚。
0 有用 博士腾 2022-12-29 09:26:55 北京
读了中文版，理论模型还不错的
0 有用 小毛巾 2022-10-29 10:56:52 甘肃
世界尽头是数学(就是讲城市的那几章太长了我把第八章最后几节跳掉了)
0 有用 Serendipity 2022-03-26 00:47:42
言外之意，世间万物，并不是简单的等比缩放。在更大的尺度上，它们另有一套规律。简单说，就是大了不一样。 地球上任何生物，其代谢率和体重的四分之三次方成正比。 人类寿命的理论上限，大概是125岁。 宏观结构和微观结构，呈现出的自相似性，就叫做分形。事物不断生长的最终结果，是形成一种分形结构。生长的过程也是分形的过程。分形的角度来看，人身体里的血管结构，其实是四维的。 1 组织越大，对基础设施的... 言外之意，世间万物，并不是简单的等比缩放。在更大的尺度上，它们另有一套规律。简单说，就是大了不一样。 地球上任何生物，其代谢率和体重的四分之三次方成正比。 人类寿命的理论上限，大概是125岁。 宏观结构和微观结构，呈现出的自相似性，就叫做分形。事物不断生长的最终结果，是形成一种分形结构。生长的过程也是分形的过程。分形的角度来看，人身体里的血管结构，其实是四维的。 1 组织越大，对基础设施的利用率就越高。规模越大，反而越节省资源。 2 规模越大，产出越高。 3 一个组织的越是具备多样性，它就越有活力。 一个组织真正的优势，不是规模大，而是，规模复杂。 不管是对个人、公司，还是城市来说，大，只一个基础，它不是真正的厉害。能够包容万物，能够有多样性的大，才是真的了不起。 (展开)
0 有用 Jimmy47 2022-02-13 20:40:41
万维钢精英日课2解读 第一，我们见识了数学的力量。生物体、城市和公司，表面看来好像可以有千变万化，但是万变不离其宗，都被非常简单的几个数学公式左右。 第二，成长方式决定宿命。如果不是算过数学标度率，有谁能想到，靠吃饭生活怎么就不可持续，靠连接生产怎么就能发展壮大了呢？ 第三，这里我想总结一句有点鸡汤味道的话了：胸怀决定格局。 如果你对自己的成长方式完全被动，基因怎么设定的你就怎么长，那你就... 万维钢精英日课2解读 第一，我们见识了数学的力量。生物体、城市和公司，表面看来好像可以有千变万化，但是万变不离其宗，都被非常简单的几个数学公式左右。 第二，成长方式决定宿命。如果不是算过数学标度率，有谁能想到，靠吃饭生活怎么就不可持续，靠连接生产怎么就能发展壮大了呢？ 第三，这里我想总结一句有点鸡汤味道的话了：胸怀决定格局。 如果你对自己的成长方式完全被动，基因怎么设定的你就怎么长，那你就是生物体的命运：寿命有限，将来必死。 如果你能主动掌握自己的成长，认准一个方向专注地做下去，那你就是公司的命运：可以发展壮大，但是永远伴随死亡风险。 如果你能海纳百川、不设成见，随时拥抱各种创新和连接、甚至是帮着别人连接，那你就是城市的命运：你的发展是无限的。 (展开)