Human Body Size And The Laws Of Scaling

Author : Thomas T. Samaras
Publisher : Nova Publishers
Page : 398 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Biometry
ISBN : 1600214088

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Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling by Thomas T. Samaras Pdf

Several books have been published on scaling in biology and its ramifications in the animal kingdom. However, none has specifically examined the multifaceted effects of how changes in human height create disproportionately larger changes in weight, surface area, strength and other physiological parameters. Yet, the impact of these non-linear effects on individual humans as well as our world's environment is enormous. Since increasing human body size has widespread ramifications, this book presents findings on the human species and its ecological niche. its community and how the species interacts with its environment. Thus, a few chapters provide an ecological overview of how increasing human body size relates to human evolution, fitness, health, survival and the environment. This book provides a unique purview of the laws of scaling on human performance, health, longevity and the environment. Numerous examples from various research disciplines are used to illustrate the impact of increasing body size on many aspects of human enterprises, including work output, athletics and intellectual performance.

Author : Thomas T. Samaras
Publisher : Nova Science Publishers
Page : 393 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Body size
ISBN : 1624170749

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Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling by Thomas T. Samaras Pdf

Author : Geoffrey West
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 496 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2017-05-16
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781101621509

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Scale by Geoffrey West Pdf

"This is science writing as wonder and as inspiration." —The Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal 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.

Author : James H. Brown,Geoffrey B. West
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2000
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780195131420

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Scaling in Biology by James H. Brown,Geoffrey B. West Pdf

Scaling relationships have been a persistent theme in biology at least since the time of Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo. While there have been many excellent empirical and theoretical investigations, there has been little attempt to synthesize this diverse but interrelated area of biology. In an effort to fill this void, Scaling in Biology, the first general treatment of scaling in biology in over 15 years, covers a broad spectrum of the most relevant topics in a series of chapters written by experts in the field. Some of those topics discussed include allometry and fractal structure, branching of vascular systems of mammals and plants, biomechanical and life history of plants, invertebrates and vertebrates, and species-area patterns of biological diversity.

Author : Alan G. Hildrew,David G. Raffaelli,Ronni Edmonds-Brown
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 335 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2007-07-12
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9781139464178

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Body Size: The Structure and Function of Aquatic Ecosystems by Alan G. Hildrew,David G. Raffaelli,Ronni Edmonds-Brown Pdf

Ecologists have long struggled to predict features of ecological systems, such as the numbers and diversity of organisms. The wide range of body sizes in ecological communities, from tiny microbes to large animals and plants, is emerging as the key to prediction. Based on the relationship between body size and features such as biological rates, the physics of water and the amount of habitat available, we may be able to understand patterns of abundance and diversity, biogeography, interactions in food webs and the impact of fishing, adding up to a potential 'periodic table' for ecology. Remarkable progress on the unravelling, describing and modelling of aquatic food webs, revealing the fundamental role of body size, makes a book emphasising marine and freshwater ecosystems particularly apt. In this 2007 book, the importance of body size is examined at a range of scales that will be of interest to professional ecologists, from students to senior researchers.

Author : Robert A. Meyers
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 1885 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2011-10-05
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9781461418054

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Mathematics of Complexity and Dynamical Systems by Robert A. Meyers Pdf

Mathematics of Complexity and Dynamical Systems is an authoritative reference to the basic tools and concepts of complexity, systems theory, and dynamical systems from the perspective of pure and applied mathematics. Complex systems are systems that comprise many interacting parts with the ability to generate a new quality of collective behavior through self-organization, e.g. the spontaneous formation of temporal, spatial or functional structures. These systems are often characterized by extreme sensitivity to initial conditions as well as emergent behavior that are not readily predictable or even completely deterministic. The more than 100 entries in this wide-ranging, single source work provide a comprehensive explication of the theory and applications of mathematical complexity, covering ergodic theory, fractals and multifractals, dynamical systems, perturbation theory, solitons, systems and control theory, and related topics. Mathematics of Complexity and Dynamical Systems is an essential reference for all those interested in mathematical complexity, from undergraduate and graduate students up through professional researchers.

Author : Marko B. Popovic
Publisher : Academic Press
Page : 668 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2019-04-04
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9780128130414

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Biomechatronics by Marko B. Popovic Pdf

Biomechatronics is rapidly becoming one of the most influential and innovative research directions defining the 21st century. Biomechatronics will provide a complete and up-to-date account of this advanced subject at the university textbook level. Each chapter in this book will be co-authored by top industry experts in the corresponding subfield, and will be led by Professor Marko B. Popovic, researcher and educator at the forefront of advances in the biomechatronics field. Beginning with an introduction to the field and its historical background, this book will delve into the most groundbreaking and recent developments in biomechatronics, such as artificial organs and tissues, prosthetic limbs, orthotic systems, wearable systems for physical augmentation, physical therapy and rehabilitation, robotic surgery, and natural and synthetic sensors. The only biomechatronics textbook written especially for students at a university level Ideal for undergraduate and graduate students and researchers in the biomechatronics, biomechanics, robotics, and biomedical engineering fields Provides an overview of state-of-the-art science and technology of modern day biomechatronics, introduced by the leading experts in this fascinating field

Author : Mary I. O’Connor,Diego Barneche,Julie Messier,Angelica L. Gonzalez
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2020-12-29
Category : Science
ISBN : 9782889662920

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Unifying Ecology Across Scales: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities by Mary I. O’Connor,Diego Barneche,Julie Messier,Angelica L. Gonzalez Pdf

This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.

Author : Stephen J. Warburton,Warren W. Burggren,Bernd Pelster,Carl L. Reiber,John Spicer
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2006-03-02
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780190290672

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Comparative Developmental Physiology by Stephen J. Warburton,Warren W. Burggren,Bernd Pelster,Carl L. Reiber,John Spicer Pdf

Comparative developmental physiology is a growing discipline examining a diversity of organisms as they transform from single cells to mature, reproductive individuals. This collection of original, innovative essays emerged from a Roundtable on Comparative Developmental Physiology held in Glen Rose, Texas in the summer of 2002. This meeting brought together investigators studying the physiology of developing animals in an effort to identify the field's potential contributions to biology. The participants honed in on common emerging themes and future goals, which are reflected in the chapters within. The nascent community of comparative developmental physiologists was challenged to amplify the power of data collection and tool development by focusing on a few select model organisms, while still employing the power of the broader, more traditional comparative approach. Evolution has provided comparative developmental physiologists with remarkable biological diversity, which they have used to investigate a broad range of questions critical for understanding how life works. This goes beyond the basic nuts and bolts of cellular mechanisms to the functional whole, from the mechanistic level to behavior within and between organisms. The union of developmental biology with the breadth of comparative physiology holds much promise for a deeper understanding of evolutionary processes.

Author : Knut Schmidt-Nielsen
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 1984-07-27
Category : Medical
ISBN : 0521319870

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Scaling by Knut Schmidt-Nielsen Pdf

This book is about the importance of animal size. We tend to think of animal function in chemical terms and talk of water, salts, proteins, enzymes, oxygen, energy, and so on. We should not forget, however, that physical laws are equally important, for they determine rates of diffusion and heat transfer, transfer of force and momentum, the strength of structures, the dynamics of locomotion, and other aspects of the functioning of animal bodies. Physical laws provide possibilities and opportunities for an organism, yet they also impose constraints, setting limits to what is physically possible. This book aims to give an understanding of these rules because of their profound implications when we deal with animals of widely different size and scale. The reader will find that the book raises many questions. Remarkable and puzzling information makes it read a little like a detective story, but the last chapter, instead of giving the final solution, neither answers all questions nor provides one great unifying principle.

Author : James W. Haefner
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 486 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781461541196

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Modeling Biological Systems by James W. Haefner Pdf

This book is intended as a text for a first course on creating and analyzing computer simulation models of biological systems. The expected audience for this book are students wishing to use dynamic models to interpret real data mueh as they would use standard statistical techniques. It is meant to provide both the essential principles as well as the details and equa tions applicable to a few particular systems and subdisciplines. Biological systems, however, encompass a vast, diverse array of topics and problems. This book discusses only a select number of these that I have found to be useful and interesting to biologists just beginning their appreciation of computer simulation. The examples chosen span classical mathematical models of well-studied systems to state-of-the-art topics such as cellular automata and artificial life. I have stressed the relationship between the models and the biology over mathematical analysis in order to give the reader a sense that mathematical models really are useful to biologists. In this light, I have sought examples that address fundamental and, I think, interesting biological questions. Almost all of the models are directly COIIl pared to quantitative data to provide at least a partial demonstration that some biological models can accurately predict.

Author : Alberto Carpinteri
Publisher : CRC Press
Page : 613 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2002-11-01
Category : Architecture
ISBN : 9781482294880

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Size-Scale Effects in the Failure Mechanisms of Materials and Structures by Alberto Carpinteri Pdf

Invited international contributions to this exciting new research field are included in this volume. It contains the specially selected papers from 45 key specialists given at the Symposium held under the auspices of the prestigious International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Turin in October 1994.

Author : Axel G. Rossberg
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 342 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2013-06-03
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781118502174

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Food Webs and Biodiversity by Axel G. Rossberg Pdf

Food webs have now been addressed in empirical and theoretical research for more than 50 years. Yet, even elementary foundational issues are still hotly debated. One difficulty is that a multitude of processes need to be taken into account to understand the patterns found empirically in the structure of food webs and communities. Food Webs and Biodiversity develops a fresh, comprehensive perspective on food webs. Mechanistic explanations for several known macroecological patterns are derived from a few fundamental concepts, which are quantitatively linked to field-observables. An argument is developed that food webs will often be the key to understanding patterns of biodiversity at community level. Key Features: Predicts generic characteristics of ecological communities in invasion-extirpation equilibrium. Generalizes the theory of competition to food webs with arbitrary topologies. Presents a new, testable quantitative theory for the mechanisms determining species richness in food webs, and other new results. Written by an internationally respected expert in the field. With global warming and other pressures on ecosystems rising, understanding and protecting biodiversity is a cause of international concern. This highly topical book will be of interest to a wide ranging audience, including not only graduate students and practitioners in community and conservation ecology but also the complex-systems research community as well as mathematicians and physicists interested in the theory of networks. "This is a comprehensive work outlining a large array of very novel and potentially game-changing ideas in food web ecology." —Ken Haste Andersen, Technical University of Denmark "I believe that this will be a landmark book in community ecology ... it presents a well-established and consistent mathematical theory of food-webs. It is testable in many ways and the author finds remarkable agreements between predictions and reality." —Géza Meszéna, Eötvös University, Budapest

Author : David C. Schneider
Publisher : Academic Press
Page : 432 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2009-07-20
Category : Science
ISBN : 0080925642

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Quantitative Ecology by David C. Schneider Pdf

A follow-up to the highly successful first edition, this book reviews the manifold ways that scale influences the interpretation of ecological variation. As scale, magnitude, quantity, and measurement occupy an expanding role in ecology, this 2e will be an indispensable addition to individual and institutional libraries. In providing a context for resolution of ecological problems, ecologists will appreciate the significance of scale and magnitude addressed in this book. Written for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty researchers, this book synthesizes a burgeoning literature on the influences of scale. * Expanded by numerous explanatory figures and wide coverage of material * Topic is of crucial importance to ecologists * The most thorough, complete coverage available on quantitative ecology in the market

Author : Marc J. Madou
Publisher : CRC Press
Page : 650 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2011-06-13
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9781439895245

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From MEMS to Bio-MEMS and Bio-NEMS by Marc J. Madou Pdf

From MEMS to Bio-MEMS and Bio-NEMS: Manufacturing Techniques and Applications details manufacturing techniques applicable to bionanotechnology. After reviewing MEMS techniques, materials, and modeling, the author covers nanofabrication, genetically engineered proteins, artificial cells, nanochemistry, and self-assembly. He also discusses scaling la