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I first came across Barabasi through a colleague who works in bioinformatics. Having read some of his technical papers, I was unaware that he had a popular book on his work. I was pleasantly surprised by the clarity of style. This is an excellent introduction to networks and the references found in the notes section easily allow further exploration.
It is eye-opening to see how networks underlie almost every area of our everyday life and how the understanding of networks can give us additional insight into everyday experiences. He discusses the scientific models that shaped our understanding of networks, ranging from early random network theory of Erdös and Rényi to scale-free networks, a discovery that can be attributed to the author himself. Albert-László Barabási is a renowned scientist who has brought into the spotlight the science of networks, and at the same time he is a great writer who describes scientific discoveries in a way that make them sound like detective stories.In Linked, Albert-László Barabási gives us an introduction to the fascinating world of networks and complexity. Some specific examples discussed in the book are the financial crisis of 1997, the September 11 attacks, spreading of AIDS, adoption of product innovations, and cancer research. Along with the scientific models, we learn about the attributes of networks, such as small world properties, clustering, power law distribution, preferential attachment, and fitness model.Intertwined with the network models and properties, the author discusses the practical applications of these theories. This hugely interdisciplinary field consists of physics, mathematics, biology, computer science, sociology, warfare, business and many other areas. The powerful content of Linked is wonderfully packaged in a narrative consisting of intertwined plots, biographies, and humor which make the book an excellent read. We can feel the author's passion for the topic and are left with an inspiration and a better understanding of our networked reality.
What I was most surprised to find is that I came away with feeling of being one with the universe; inexorably linked, networked, both a product of and an influencer of this world. The 80/20 rule is described as it applies to monetary success by people, web site success with Internet traffic, frequency of protein use in cellular reactions, and evolutionary success of DNA mutations. This book's author explores networks that exist in everything from Hollywood actors to cellular proteins and lets us into the private (and unexpectedly exciting and humorous) world of mathematicians and physics professors. Dude, Ooohhhhmmmm. Be forewarned, the chapter on network economy will not be calming at this time of recession unprecedented since the 1930's. The book drags a little at times. Ooohhhhmmmm. Ooohhhhmmmm.
The book traces the history and evolution of complex network theory covering: random networks, small worlds and the six degrees, scalefree networks in a coherent picture.Recommended to anyone interested in network theory and its applications
Nutshell review - This is a fascinating topic and this is a great book covering it. Well written, lucid and worth reading about this interesting "new" field of networks and small worlds. Barabasi is one of the original researchers in this field and provides unique insights and thoughts.Another book on the same topic, Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Theory of Networks by Mark Buchanan, covers the same topic and often citing the exact same examples.
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