Abstract
McCORMICK1 recently formulated the following hypothesis: “All naturally occurring phenomena proceed according to exponential functions of time and each process in Nature conforms to its own unique time-scale”. He finds that the empirical equation describes a variety of different processes arid that the values of the constants k and c are characteristic of the particular process. Fremlin2 points out that for any natural phenomenon the value of t must be subjected to an arbitrary cut-off at some finite value and that this kind of law is usually restricted to processes which occur under controlled conditions. In replying to Fremlin's2 objection that equation (1) is incapable of describing periodic phenomena, McCormick3 concedes that in such situations a series of exponential growth and decay functions are needed, each valid within certain limits of t.
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References
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BURCH, P. Nature's Time-scale: Degenerative Disease in Man. Nature 216, 298–299 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/216298b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/216298b0
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