I have an oak tree in a pot grown from a seedling. After three years it is healthy but barely a metre tall. However, its leaves are much the same size as those of a mature oak. In animals, a stricter law of proportion seems to apply: babies have tiny hands and kittens tiny claws. Why this difference?
• Infant paws and kitten claws are mechanical tools and must be of a size, and leverage, appropriate to the power provided by the limbs.
Rather than hands, perhaps it would be more appropriate to compare leaf size with the diameter of the…
