Most of us have little trouble working out how many millilitres are in 2.4 litres of water (it’s 2,400). But the same can’t be said when we’re asked how many minutes are in 2.4 hours (it’s 144).
Many aspects of our world, from the body mass of creatures in the animal kingdom to the population of cities across the globe, follow an intriguing mathematical pattern. Known as Zipf's law, the rule ...