Body size and metabolism
Basal metabolic rate scales as mass^0.75, not mass^1.0
Kleiber's discovery that metabolism scales as mass^0.75 (not linearly) is one of the most fundamental scaling laws in biology. It explains why large animals are more efficient per kilogram but face absolute ceilings on growth - they can't acquire energy fast enough to fuel further growth.
For business, Kleiber's Law provides the biological foundation for understanding metabolic limits on organizational growth. Companies, like organisms, have throughput limits on how fast they can acquire and process resources (talent, capital, information).
Key Findings from Kleiber & Kleiber (1932)
- Basal metabolic rate scales as mass^0.75, not mass^1.0
- Larger animals are more efficient per kilogram but need more total energy
- Energy acquisition rate creates absolute ceiling on growth
- Metabolic rate scales with body mass to the 3/4 power (M^0.75)
- Larger animals are more energy-efficient per unit mass
- A 1,000x larger animal burns only ~178x more energy
- This scaling law is one of biology's most robust patterns
- Metabolic rate scales as mass^0.75 (not mass^1.0 or mass^0.67)
- An animal 20,000x heavier needs only ~3,000x more energy per day
- The relationship holds across diverse mammalian species
Used in 3 chapters
See how this research informs the book's frameworks:
Discovery that metabolism scales as mass^0.75 explains why large animals are efficient per kilogram but face absolute ceilings on growth.
See metabolic growth limits →Established biology's most robust scaling law - metabolic rate scales with body mass to the 3/4 power, not linearly.
See metabolic efficiency scaling →Foundational discovery measuring metabolic rates across mammals from mice to steers, establishing that larger animals are more efficient per unit mass.
See scaling law foundations →