Geoffrey West Quotes

United Kingdom, Physicist
December 15, 1940

Geoffrey Brian West (born 15 December 1940) is a British theoretical physicist, former president and distinguished professor of the Santa Fe Institute. He is one of the leading scientists working on a scientific model of cities. Among other things his work states that with the doubling of a city's size, salaries per capita will generally increase by 15%.

When you look at a city, you know, it looks so unique. You feel this kind of uniqueness, you know, and especially if you go from a big city to a small city or if you go from one country to another. Cities look very different, often. They even feel very different. You know, and they are, of course. They certainly are.

Geoffrey West
- Different
- Country
- Small
Exciting cities stay exciting, and boring cities stay boring.

Geoffrey West

A human being at rest runs on 90 watts. That's how much power you need just to lie down. And if you're a hunter-gatherer and you live in the Amazon, you'll need about 250 watts. That's how much energy it takes to run about and find food.

Geoffrey West
- Live
- Power
- Energy
Cities are just a physical manifestation of your interactions, our interactions, and the clustering and grouping of individuals.

Geoffrey West
Every fundamental law has exceptions. But you still need the law or else all you have is observations that don't make sense. And that's not science. That's just taking notes.

Geoffrey West
- Science
- Law