3 - Scale

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the issues of scale, that is, issues of relative size, which is important because it affects both the form and the function of those objects or systems being modeled. Scaling influences and often controls the way objects interact with their environments. The chapter reviews abstraction and scale, size and shape, size and function, scaling, and conditions that are imposed at an object's boundary, and some of the consequences of choosing scales in both theory and experimental measurements. It demonstrates how scaling effects influenced the growth of cathedrals and large churches and how size affects function in the ability of birds to hover and in people's ability to hear and to speak. Scaling has a significant effect on experiments, both in terms of how data is acquired and how it is interpreted. The choice of scale(s) for experiments is a crucial part of the design of experiments. The way that data is scaled for presentation can significantly influence how people perceive the meaning of that data. This is also a very important part of modeling because it speaks directly to the perceived credibility of the results of any modeling endeavor.