Kuroki T. Physiological essay on Gulliver's Travels: a correction after three centuries.
J Physiol Sci 2019;
69:421-424. [PMID:
30610552 PMCID:
PMC6373404 DOI:
10.1007/s12576-018-00655-4]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2018] [Accepted: 12/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, published in 1726, was analyzed from the viewpoint of scaling in comparative physiology. According to the original text, the foods of 1724 Lilliputians, tiny human creatures, are needed for Gulliver, but the author found that those of 42 Lilliputians and of 1/42 Brobdingnagians (gigantic human creatures) are enough to support the energy of Gulliver. The author further estimated their heartbeats, respiration rates, life spans and blood pressure. These calculations were made by the use of three equations, i.e., body mass index (BMI = W/H2) and quarter-power laws (E∝W3/4 and T∝W1/4), where W, H, E, and T denote body weight, height, energy and time, respectively. Their blood pressures were estimated with reference to that of the giraffe and barosaurus, a long-neck dinosaur. Based on the above findings, the food requirement of Gulliver in the original text should be corrected after almost three centuries.
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