Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Sealable Femtoliter Chamber Arrays for Cell-free Biology
Published on: March 11, 2015
Homeostasis and Gauss statistics: barriers to understanding natural variability
1US Army Research Office, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC 27709, USA. bruce.j.west@us.army.mil
Rationale:
In this paper, the concept of knowledge is argued to be the top of a three-tiered system of science.
Aims And Objectives:
The first tier is that of measurement and data, followed by information consisting of the patterns within the data, and ending with theory that interprets the patterns and yields knowledge. Thus, when a scientific theory ceases to be consistent with the database the knowledge based on that theory must be re-examined and potentially modified.
Results:
Consequently, all knowledge, like glory, is transient.
Methods:
Herein we focus on the non-normal statistics of physiologic time series and conclude that the empirical inverse power-law statistics and long-time correlations are inconsistent with the theoretical notion of homeostasis.
Conclusions:
We suggest replacing the notion of homeostasis with that of Fractal Physiology.
Related Concept Videos
Random Error
Random and Systematic Errors
Random and Systematic Errors
Regression Toward the Mean
Variability: Analysis
The range is a simple measure of variability, indicating the difference between the highest and...
Statistical Analysis: Overview
One of the most commonly used statistical quantifiers is the mean, which is the ratio between the sum of the numerical values of all results and the...
