To answer the most important questions of our age, we must understand size. Neither bacteria nor empires are immune to its laws. Measuring it is challenging, especially where complex systems like economies are concerned, yet mastering it offers rich rewards: the rise of the West, for example, was a direct result of ever more accurate and standardized measurements.

Using the interdisciplinary approach that has won him a wide readership, Smil draws upon history, earth science, psychology, art, and more to offer fresh insight into some of our biggest challenges, including income inequality, the spread of infectious disease, and the uneven impacts of climate change. Size explains the regularities—and peculiarities—of the key processes shaping life (from microbes to whales), the Earth (from asteroids to volcanic eruptions), technical advances (from architecture to transportation), and societies and economies (from cities to wages). This book about the big and the small, and the relationship between them, answers the big and small questions of human existence:

• What makes a human society too big? What about a human being?
• Which alternative energy sources have the best chance of scaling and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels?
• Why do tall people make more money?
• What makes a face beautiful? How about a cathedral?
• How can changing the size of your plates help you lose weight?


「沒有哪位作家的書，像瓦茲拉夫．史密爾的如此令我期待。」──比爾．蓋茲
全球百大頂尖思想家
經濟學暢銷書《這個世界運作的真相》作者
瓦茲拉夫．史密爾最新力作

東西愈大愈好嗎？有沒有什麼東西會持續無限生長？暢銷作家瓦茲拉夫．史密爾就這些有趣龐大的問題尋根究柢，將改變你對身處世界的看法。

為什麼體重是你兩倍重的人，頭圍和心臟不會是你的兩倍大？巨杉為何不會長到突破天際，跟摩天大樓的限制？腦與體型的比，從鼩鼱的1/23到弓頭鯨的1/22000，有無規律？螢幕發明以來，如何從追求愈大愈好，到手機時代變得愈小愈好？油輪的載噸重與運油的成本攤提有何關係，輪船本身的造價與吃水量又扮演何關鍵角色？航空公司的座椅寬度如何平衡載客量與人體工學？城市的人口為何無法無限增加，馬路設計為何不是愈寬愈好？不同文化偏好的頭身比和腰臀比有何差異？虛榮尺碼如何讓人們更滿意自己的身材？為何在一些國家，男性身高愈高，收入也愈高？從馬匹到曳引機，從皮卡到波音七四七，人類如何不斷改良引擎的功率至今？

史密爾是一位數據驅動的思想家，他習慣用數字解釋世界，經常質疑我們習以為常的假設，用數據邏輯推翻迷思。書中思考不同尺度的現象如何相互作用，例如，微小的細菌和巨大的鯨魚能否共享同樣的生態規律，或者城市規模的擴張如何影響社會結構和資源消耗。這種系統性思維能幫助你更理解世界的複雜性和連動性。

他驚人的博學多才意味著你會在這本書中接觸到來自工程、生物、醫學、經濟、心理學等諸多領域的（冷）知識。這是一場心智的盛宴，將大幅拓寬你的知識邊界。

——中文簡介摘自麥田出版《 Size決定世界》