Nilesh Jasani's Reviews > Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies

Despite numerous flaws, this is a great book to read for multiple reasons. Complex systems are different in details, but most, if not all, of them have a certain commonality in their structures because of the self-similar nature of its smaller parts. The book logically shows how the larger constructs of these lego-like blocks lead to contraptions that may appear massively different in all ordinary ways, but they retain certain important basic characteristics, which this reviewer would continue to refer to as commonalities. These commonalities of different systems built on self-similar blocks themselves have something common - called Scale mathematically.

Scale effectively means that as self-similar structures expand to build larger structures, most of the evolving inherent or emergent characteristics would follow a mathematical growth pattern that is not linear but exponential. The exponentiality could be sublinear (rapidly converging) or superlinear. And, this is true for natural phenomenon like life (or species), evolutionary human constructs like cities or even conscious artificial constructs like companies.

This wonderful book has countless nuggets of new information as it expounds on the underlying scale laws that are rarely explained in almost any other popular non-fiction books of any kind. More importantly, the author goes on to explain why the power or scale laws come into play rather than simply point to their existence.

For instance, the scaling follows quarter-power exponents - or growth equations with exponents like 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.25 - in many underlying patterns of life (across species). The author has ingenious logical arguments emanating from the three dimensions of our spatial presence to explain why. Such clear reasonings are not present elsewhere - for example, the rationale behind the Dunbar number is quite weak. And, no attempt is made to explain why city characteristics follow a power scaling of 0.15 up or down (ie, 1.15 or 0.85).

The flaws in the work are numerous, as stated earlier. The author rarely explains the statistical strengths of the fittings arrived at. Academic critics of the book's conclusions have most doubts on the data and equations that the book presents as inviolate. The authors jump from biology to cities to corporates as the three main organisms following the scale laws appear whimsical or at best, an accidental result of the author's own academic career. The last section - where the author provides his own rather subjective and disjointed rant against singularity, big data and AI - not only is indulgent but also may make readers wonder if similar preconceived views are also at the roots of other conclusions presented in the book.

While some readers would find the shortcomings in analysis, conclusions and style jarring, the focus should be on the book's unique analysis and pathbreaking important conclusions - all presented in a way almost all will be able to understand.