Moore's Law
A pattern that held for fifty years: every two years, computers got twice as powerful for the same price. What happens when it stops?
19657 min read
Kind
Law
Heuristics, rules of thumb, and empirical observations that have proven durable enough to earn a name.
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Beginner
Ages 8+, no background needed.
Murphy's Law
If anything can go wrong, will it? The saying is a joke — but the engineering principle behind it is dead serious.
19497 min read
Parkinson's Law
Give yourself a week for a task that takes an hour, and it will take a week. Why does work expand to fill available time?
19556 min read
Amara's Law
Every major technology is overhyped on arrival and underestimated a decade later. Why does intuition fail in the same direction twice?
19776 min read
Brandolini's Law
A tweet spreads a false claim to a million people. Correcting it requires essays and citations. Why does the truth always have to work harder?
20137 min read
Cunningham's Law
Ask a question online and wait hours. Post the wrong answer and be corrected in minutes. Why is the urge to correct stronger than the urge to help?
20106 min read
Hofstadter's Law
It always takes longer than you think — and that's still true even after you account for the fact that it always takes longer than you think.
19796 min read
Intermediate
Curious teenagers and general adult readers.
Benford's Law
Look at the first digit of every number in a newspaper. You'll see 1 far more often than 9 — and it is a mathematical law, not a coincidence.
19388 min read
Brooks's Law
A software project is six months late. You add more developers. Now it's eight months late. Why?
19756 min read
Conway's Law
Your software will look like your org chart. Not because you planned it, but because you couldn't plan it otherwise.
19685 min read
Dunbar's Number
You can maintain real relationships with about 150 people. Beyond that, a group becomes something different. Is this a law of human nature?
19927 min read
Metcalfe's Law
Double the users of a network and the value quadruples. This simple mathematics is why some networks become monopolies and others die empty.
19806 min read
Zipf's Law
The most common English word is twice as frequent as the second. Why does language obey the same mathematical law as city populations?
19357 min read