Spooky Universal Pattern Captivates Math Experts

Academics ponder similarities between cities and organisms

By Mary Papenfuss, Newser Staff

Posted May 20, 2009 5:53 AM CDT

(Newser) – A fascinating mathematical similarity between infrastructure requirements of cities and the nutritional needs of different-sized animals has energized a field of study that is enthralling academics. Researchers have discovered that any measure of a city's infrastructure—from number of gas stations to miles of roadway—grows only in proportion to the 0.77 power of its population. This holds true all over the world, notes applied math Prof. Steve Strogatz in the New York Times.

"Now comes the spooky part. The same law is true for living things," writes Strogatz. The metabolic needs of a mammal grow in proportion to its body weight raised to the .74 power. The three-fourths power pattern appears to be the most efficient for an organism, scientists have found. The mathematical pattern between organisms and cities seems to be "telling us something profound," notes Strogatz. "There may be deep laws of collective organization" that affect aggregates of people as well as cells.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

A mouse may be more like a city than we realize. (©Navins)

How is a city like a collection of cells? Math experts know. (©kowitz)

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The numerology would seem totally fortuitous if we hadn’t viewed cities and organisms through mathematics. By abstracting away nearly all details involved in powering a mouse or a city, math exposes their underlying unity. - Cornell Prof. Steven Strogatz

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Spooky Universal Pattern Captivates Math Experts