Scaling: Why Is Animal Size So Important?¶
Schmidt-Nielsen, K. (1984). Scaling: Why Is Animal Size So Important?. Cambridge University Press.
Cited by¶
4 citations across 4 artifacts.
Each citation links to the sentence it supports in the citing article.
Primes¶
- Allometry and Scaling Law
- The principle that properties of systems scale nonlinearly with size according to characteristic exponents, with the same mathematical form (power laws) recurring across different domains and scales, as Schmidt-Nielsen (1984) systematized across the animal kingdom.
This sourceCanonical comparative-physiology treatment of how diffusion, heat dissipation, structural strength, and locomotion impose scale-specific constraints across the animal kingdom, showing designs optimized for small organisms fail when extrapolated to large body sizes.
Supported in partVerified against the publisher's abstract
The publisher's abstract confirms Schmidt-Nielsen treats scale-dependent physical constraints on animal function, but it names no power laws or exponents and disclaims one unifying principle.
“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 …”
- The principle that properties of systems scale nonlinearly with size according to characteristic exponents, with the same mathematical form (power laws) recurring across different domains and scales, as Schmidt-Nielsen (1984) systematized across the animal kingdom.
- Economies of Scale
- The abstraction's structural roles transplant cleanly onto non-industrial substrates — most strikingly to biology, where Schmidt-Nielsen (1984) showed that organisms become more metabolically efficient per unit mass as size grows (Kleiber's-law analogue), the same fixed-investment-amortized-over-throughput pattern.
This sourceCanonical comparative-physiology treatment of how physical laws (diffusion, heat dissipation, structural strength, locomotion) impose size-specific constraints and govern allometric (Kleiber's-law) metabolic scaling.
Supported in partVerified against the publisher's abstract
The publisher's abstract shows the book treats how physical laws impose size-specific constraints on animal function, but it does not state the metabolic-rate-per-unit-mass (Kleiber) proposition the claim attributes to it.
“Physical laws provide possibilities and opportunities for an organism, yet they also impose constraints, setting limits to what is physically possible.”
- The abstraction's structural roles transplant cleanly onto non-industrial substrates — most strikingly to biology, where Schmidt-Nielsen (1984) showed that organisms become more metabolically efficient per unit mass as size grows (Kleiber's-law analogue), the same fixed-investment-amortized-over-throughput pattern.
- Scaling and Scale Dependence
- As size or complexity increases, different forces, friction sources, and feedback loops become binding, making designs optimized for small scale actively pathological at large scale, a pattern Schmidt-Nielsen (1984) documented across animal physiology.
This sourceCanonical comparative-physiology treatment of how diffusion, heat dissipation, structural strength, and locomotion impose scale-specific constraints, showing that designs optimized for small organisms fail when extrapolated to large body sizes.
Supported in partVerified against the publisher's abstract
The book's abstract confirms physical laws impose scale-specific constraints (diffusion, heat, strength, locomotion) but never says small-scale designs turn pathological at large scale.
“Physical laws provide possibilities and opportunities for an organism, yet they also impose constraints, setting limits to what is physically possible.”
- As size or complexity increases, different forces, friction sources, and feedback loops become binding, making designs optimized for small scale actively pathological at large scale, a pattern Schmidt-Nielsen (1984) documented across animal physiology.
Mechanisms¶
- Crossover-Point Calculation
- The surface-area-to-volume ratio
This sourceShows that surface area grows with length squared while volume grows with length cubed, so surface-area-to-volume ratio declines with size and creates consequential scaling constraints.
- The surface-area-to-volume ratio
Verification¶
Does it exist? Confirmed. This work's DOI resolves to a registered record, which fixes its identity. That is all it fixes.
Does it back the claim? Read against the text for 3 of 4 citations: 3 supported in part. Each verdict is shown under its citation below, with what in the work backs the sentence.
Was it audited? Yes. A second, independent pass read the citation against the article text and recorded a verdict.
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See how references were verified.
Registry ID ref:18bfa9fe501e · see in the full table