Almost forty years ago, my focus
was longevity and not height. My
thesis was based on the Second
Law of Thermodynamics. This law
says that all systems become disordered with time, and the level
of disorder is related to increased
mass and energy. I applied this
thesis to humans and predicted
that as our body got larger and
used more energy, it would become
disordered faster and this in turn
would accelerate our aging. I also
decided to assess the impact of
increasing the body size of billions
14
of people on our resources, environment, economy, food and water
needs, and energy demands. My
findings are summarized next.
The value of small or large body
size depends on our how it helps
individuals and the human race to
survive and develop in our environment. Thus, in our earlier history,
strength and tall height were useful
in warfare and hunting large animals. However, in an environment
of scarcity, smaller bodies need