Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age PDF
Preview Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age
PRAISE FOR DUNCAN WATTS’S SIX DEGREES “Watts smoothly combines a historical survey of the field with real-world examples, often drawn from his personal experience. Well-done [and] comprehensive.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review “[A] fascinating and completely approachable introduction to the science of networks…. This book is of great importance for a number of reasons. First, Watts offers an introduction to a very complicated field that is both deeply insightful and a pleasure to read. Second…Watts offers sufficient detail and nuance that give the work a profound impact. This book offers a depiction of the social and physical worlds that is amazing and intellectually stimulating.” —Virginia Quarterly Review “This is an exciting book by one of the world’s pioneering young scientists. Watts’s insights into the interconnections that bind us together—from the links on the World Wide Web to the major global hubs of transport and finance to the sexual networks that transmit the AIDS pandemic around the world—offer a vital new framework for understanding our global society and its dynamic change. Watts explains how we are all closely connected in our ‘small worlds,’ and with this book you will be connected to the world’s leading thinkers in the exciting new field of network theory.” —Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University “This is a story that is both personal and remarkable for its ability to convey the wonder of complex science. A fascinating endeavor!” —Bill Miller, CEO, Legg Mason Funds, Inc. “An interesting look at the many networks of this ‘connected age’ and the implications and complications that surround identifying and quantifying them.” —R. F. Conklin, Choice “Because Watts explains [this] phenomenon…in accessible terms, a great many readers will accept his invitation to explore the frontiers of a new intellectual enterprise.” —Booklist “Watts’ inviting approach shapes its ordered moves into a package more dashing than dry.” —The Onion “An admirable effort.” —Publishers Weekly “A fascinating, often first-person look at the emerging science of networks. Readers will certainly learn a lot about networks from Six Degrees, for Watts is a gifted teacher. But Six Degrees is even more useful as a window into the emergence of a new scientific discipline.” —Research News and Opportunities in Science and Technology Six Degrees THE SCIENCE OF A CONNECTED AGE Duncan J. Watts W. W. NORTON & COMPANY NEW YORK LONDON For Mum and Dad “I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation. Between us and everybody else on this planet.” —Ouisa, in SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, by John Guare Contents PREFACE CHAPTER 1: The Connected Age EMERGENCE NETWORKS SYNCHRONY THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED THE SMALL-WORLD PROBLEM CHAPTER 2: The Origins of a “New” Science THE THEORY OF RANDOM GRAPHS SOCIAL NETWORKS THE DYNAMICS MATTERS DEPARTING FROM RANDOMNESS HERE COME THE PHYSICISTS… CHAPTER 3: Small Worlds WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS FROM CAVEMEN TO SOLARIANS SMALL WORLDS AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE THE REAL WORLD CHAPTER 4: Beyond the Small World SCALE-FREE NETWORKS THE RICH GET RICHER GETTING RICH CAN BE HARD REINTRODUCING GROUP STRUCTURE AFFILIATION NETWORKS DIRECTORS AND SCIENTISTS COMPLICATIONS CHAPTER 5: Search in Networks SO WHAT DID MILGRAM REALLY SHOW? IS SIX A BIG OR A SMALL NUMBER? THE SMALL-WORLD SEARCH PROBLEM SOCIOLOGY STRIKES BACK SEARCH IN PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS CHAPTER 6: Epidemics and Failures THE HOT ZONE VIRUSES IN THE INTERNET THE MATHEMATICS OF EPIDEMICS EPIDEMICS IN A SMALL WORLD PERCOLATION MODELS OF DISEASE NETWORKS, VIRUSES, AND MICROSOFT FAILURES AND ROBUSTNESS CHAPTER 7: Decisions, Delusions, and the Madness of Crowds TULIP ECONOMICS FEAR, GREED, AND RATIONALITY COLLECTIVE DECISIONS INFORMATION CASCADES INFORMATION EXTERNALITIES COERCIVE EXTERNALITIES MARKET EXTERNALITIES COORDINATION EXTERNALITIES SOCIAL DECISION MAKING CHAPTER 8: Thresholds, Cascades, and Predictability THRESHOLD MODELS OF DECISIONS CAPTURING DIFFERENCES CASCADES IN SOCIAL NETWORKS CASCADES AND PERCOLATION PHASE TRANSITIONS AND CASCADES CROSSING THE CHASM A NONLINEAR VIEW OF HISTORY POWER TO THE PEOPLE ROBUSTNESS REVISITED CHAPTER 9: Innovation, Adaptation, and Recovery THE TOYOTA-AISIN CRISIS MARKETS AND HIERARCHIES INDUSTRIAL DIVIDES AMBIGUITY THE THIRD WAY COPING WITH AMBIGUITY MULTISCALE NETWORKS RECOVERING FROM DISASTER CHAPTER 10: The End of the Beginning SEPTEMBER 11 LESSONS FOR A CONNECTED AGE CHAPTER 11: The World Gets Smaller: Another Year in the Connected Age FURTHER READING BIBLIOGRAPHY
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