About the Author

About the Author2024-07-24T17:02:22+00:00

Biography and Associations

Who Is Tom?

Tom was born in New York City. He attended New York State College where he specialized in electrical technology. He spent 2 years in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and moved to Los Angeles, where he attended California State University graduating in engineering. He worked for several engineering companies, such as Xerox, General Dynamics and Hughes Aircraft. He and his wife subsequently moved to San Diego, where he worked for General Atomic and General Dynamics. He obtained a masters degree in business administration from Pepperdine University while working for General Dynamics. During nights and weekends, he studied human height and its relation to longevity and physical performance based on the laws of physics. He started publishing on this subject in 1974. In 1994, he became a full-time researcher on the ramifications of increasing human body size. Tom walks over 6 miles on Sundays and exercises in a fitness center three times a week. He follows a plant-based diet. In his youth, he was 5’10” and 150 pounds. Today he is 5’9” and 150 pounds.

Organizational Associations:

Administrative VP of the San Diego Independent Scholars.This multidisciplinary organization consists of academics and researchers in a variety of fields, such as science, literature, the arts, the humanities and mathematics. It was founded in 1982 and was part of a movement that originated in New York City in 1975 to support unaffiliated scholars. Samaras is also a member of Union of Concerned Scientists, the Quakers Friends Society and a variety of health, environmental, and wildlife organizations.

Tom has lectured at the 9th International Symposium on the Neurobiology and Neuroendocrinology of Aging, the San Diego Independent Scholars, University of Wisconsin, and several other groups.

Research Associates worked with Samaras on the publication of his papers and books:

Harold Elrick, MD. Dr. Elrick received his MD from Harvard University and has focused his life’s efforts on preventing disease and maintaining a healthy body. He participated in longevity and nutrition research involving the Caucuses, Hunzaland, Ecuador, and California. He studied their nutrition and lifestyle in order to determine the factors influencing their good health and freedom from chronic diseases. He authored over 97 papers and eight books related to health and longevity.

Lowell H. Storms, PhD. Dr. Storms was a professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego. He conducted research on height and longevity at the San Diego Veterans Administration facility. He also co-authored a number of papers on height, body weight, obesity and longevity.

Benjamin H. Alexander, PhD. Dr. Alexander was a research professor in chemistry at The American University, Washington, DC. He was also Assistant Secretary of Education during Reagan Administration. Dr. Alexander was one of the first scientists to recognize that the worldwide increase in body height and weight was contributing to the environmental crisis. He also observed that a lower average weight of future humans would conserve resources and water, which he feared would become increasingly scarce in the near future.

Antonia Demas, PhD. Dr. Demas received her PhD from Cornell University and  is the President of the Food Studies Institute. She has dedicated her career to the improvement of the long-term health of children. She has received national recognition for her research in nutrition and has been a strong advocate of plant-based diets.

Andrzej Bartke, PhD. Dr. Bartke is a professor in the Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, at Southern Illinois University.  He has conducted research on the effects of hormones on growth, aging and reproduction and has published over 500 scientific papers and books. He has published findings on how the hypopituitary dwarf mutation and endocrine regulation increase the longevity mice. His laboratory studies have established the role of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor -1 in controlling mammalian aging.

C. David Rollo, PhD. Dr. Rollo is a professor of biology at McMaster University, Canada. His interests include integration and functions of behavior, morphology and physiology related to the ecological design of organisms. He has researched how growth negatively affects longevity in mice and rats and has written a number of papers. He authored the book: Phenotypes: Their Epigenetics, Ecology and Evolution.

Dr. Jonn Desnoes, MD, PhD,OMD. Dr. Desnoes has degrees in Western Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Psychology, Homeopathy and Clinical Nutrition. He was a consultant on malnutrition in the developing world for the Government of Jamaica and the Nutrition Research Division of the US State Department.

Geoffrey Cannon, Geoffrey founded the journal, World Nutrition. He was also chief editor of WCRF reports on food and prevention of cancer, chronic diseases. Director. Author of Dieting Makes You Fat and other books. He is currently senior research fellow at the University of Sao Paulo. Brazil.

Stephen M Marson, PhD. Dr. Marson is Professor Emeritus from the Sociology & Criminal Justice Department, University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Stephen does research in Ethics, Gerontology, Sociological Theory and Suicide. He is the author of Elder Suicide: Durkheim’s Vision and The Routledge Handbook on Social Work Ethics and Values. He is the editor and founder of The Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics. Dr. Marson wrote his review in on Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling before there was any type of contact between them.

J. Porter Lillis, PhD. John Is chair and assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice at UNC. He specializes in medical sociology and gerontology.

About “Reventropy Associates”

Goals: Aims of “Reventropy Associates”

Reventropy Associates was established in 1993 to focus on the ramifications of a world population that is constantly increasing in height and body weight. While many researchers have delved into specific areas of human height and growth, none has been devoted to the systematic evaluation of this critical area of human civilization.

Tom Samaras founded Reventropy Associates and has worked with Harold Elrick, MD, Lowell H. Storms, PhD and Jonn Desnoes, MD, PhD, OMD, Andrzej Bartke, PhD, David Rollo, Ph.D, Stephen Marson, PhD, John Lillis, PhD, and Geoffrey Cannon (former Director of Science, World Cancer Research Fund) to provide critical analyses of the various impacts of larger body size on our society and the earth. Tom and his associates have examined the impact of maternal and child nutrition, birth weight, rapid growth, early sexual maturation and attaining maximum height on long-term health and longevity.

History: How “Reventropy Associates” got Started

In the 1970s, Samaras, a configuration management systems engineer, applied the Second Law of Thermodynamics to the aging process. This well-established theory indicates that systems deteriorate faster with increasing body mass and energy intake. Tom interpreted this theory to meaning that increasing human body size and energy intake promoter faster cellular and organ deteriorating which led to accelerated aging. His hypothesis led to the collection of height and weight data on humans to detemine whether increased height and weight led to reduced longevity. Over the years he and his associates evaluated at a variety of parameters related to human body size.

Note: The term “Reventropy” was created by Samaras from the words “Reversing Entropy” by shortening the word Reversing to Rev and combining it with entropy.

Our Mission: Important Questions Related to Body Size

Samaras and his associates have sought to answer these questions:

  • Is the widespread bias favoring increased body size based on scientific evidence?
  • Are there advantages to be being shorter and lighter in weight?
  • Are there survival benefits in avoiding the progressive trend in body size?
  • The Western diet is tied to increased height and body size, but why do many eminent  scientists attribute the high animal  protein Western diet to increased chronic disease?

Our Mission

Important Questions Related to Body Size and  Height

Samaras and his associates have sought to answer these questions:

Is the widespread bias favoring increased body size based on scientific evidence?

Are there advantages to being shorter and lighter in weight?

Are there survival benefits in avoiding the progressive trend in body size?

The Western diet is tied to increased height and body size, but why do many eminent scientists attribute the high animal protein Western diet to increased chronic disease?

History of “Reventropy Associates”

How Reventropy Associates got Started

In the 1970s, Tom Samaras, a configuration management systems engineer, applied the Second Law of Thermodynamics to the aging process. This well-established theory indicates that systems deteriorate faster with increasing body mass and energy intake. Tom interpreted this theory to meaning that increasing human body size and energy intake promoter faster cellular and organ deteriorating which led to accelerated aging. His hypothesis led to the collection of height and weight data on humans to determine whether increased height and weight led to reduced longevity. Over the years, he and his associates evaluated a variety of parameters related to human body size.

Note: The term “Reventropy” was created by Samaras from the words “Reversing Enropy” by shortening the word Reversing to Rev and combining it with entropy.

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