Product Description

As Chaos explained the science of disorder, Nexus reveals the new science of connection and the odd logic of six degrees of separation.

"If you ever wanted to know how many links connect you and the Pope, or why when the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank sneezes the global economy catches cold, read this book," writes John L. Casti (Santa Fe Institute). This "cogent and engaging" (Nature) work presents the fundamental principles of the emerging field of "small-worlds" theory—the idea that a hidden pattern is the key to how networks interact and exchange information, whether that network is the information highway or the firing of neurons in the brain. Mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists, and social scientists are working to decipher this complex organizational system, for it may yield a blueprint of dynamic interactions within our physical as well as social worlds.

Highlighting groundbreaking research behind network theory, "Mark Buchanan's graceful, lucid, nontechnical and entertaining prose" (Mark Granovetter) documents the mounting support among various disciplines for the small-worlds idea and demonstrates its practical applications to diverse problems—from the volatile global economy or the Human Genome Project to the spread of infectious disease or ecological damage. Nexus is an exciting introduction to the hidden geometry that weaves our lives so inextricably together.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40846 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 238 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780393324426
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Library Journal
Will a network science emerge that helps us understand a variety of complex organizational systems by describing the puzzles of human behavior and connections in mathematical terms? So argues Buchanan, former editor of Nature and New Scientist. Buchanan, who holds a Ph.D. in physics, delivers a good introduction to theoretical physics and the "small worlds" theory of networks. He sees biology, computer science, physics, and sociology as intimately connected. Buchanan illustrates social and physical networks with examples ranging from the infamous "six degrees of separation" theories, to the spread of the AIDS virus, to the mapping of the nervous system of the nematode worm. Are the similarities among these networks merely a coincidence or the result of some underlying physics? Only further research will tell, but in the meantime this book is a good primer to basic network concepts and contains references to key journal articles and studies for further reading. The subject will be of particular interest to mathematicians, physicists, and computer scientists and of general interest to those in most other disciplines. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries. Colleen Cuddy, Ehrman Medical Lib., NYU Sch. of Medicine
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Coincidence is the current focus of modish mathematical investigation. Kicked off, according to Buchanan, by a 1998 paper published in Nature, research on the nature of coincidence posits that deep-seated principles order huge, seemingly inchoate assemblies of objects. According to these conjectured principles, any member of a gigantic assembly of similar members (say of six billion human beings) can connect with any other member in astonishingly few steps. The idea seems ubiquitous, cropping up in food chains, the cell, neural networks, disease propagation, or electrical power grids--all arenas explored by Buchanan. This connection of objects in a set, dubbed "small worlds," comes in two "flavors": egalitarian networks and aristocratic networks, an example of the latter being the Internet. These are very interesting concepts, but before diving in, readers will want to know what they might get from Buchanan's presentation of various mathematicians' papers. Intimating that a small-worlds perspective might reveal the workings of economics as well as biology and ecology, Buchanan points up the relevance of his investigation. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
An intriguing, accessible look at the mathematics behind the 'six degrees of separation' theory. -- Kirkus Reviews

An intriguing, accessible look at the mathematics behind the 'six degrees of separation' theory. (Kirkus Reviews )

Buchanan peels away a veneer of complexity to reveal the simple scaffolding that holds our society together. -- Richard Stone, author of Mammoth: The Resurrection of an Ice Age Giant

Buchanan peels away a veneer of complexity to reveal the simple scaffolding that holds our society together. (Richard Stone, author of Mammoth: The Resurrection of an Ice Age Giant )

Finally, a readable, simple explanation of one of the most surprising rules of complex networks. -- John L. Casti, author of Mathematical Mountaintops: The Five Most Famous Problems of All Time

Finally, a readable, simple explanation of one of the most surprising rules of complex networks. (John L. Casti, author of Mathematical Mountaintops: The Five Most Famous Problems of All Time )

The consequences of this new world view are profound—and at times disturbing. -- Richard Stone, Science

The consequences of this new world view are profound—and at times disturbing. (Richard Stone - Science )

[G]raceful, lucid, nontechnical and entertaining prose....A remarkable achievement. -- Mark Granovetter, Joan Butler Ford Professor of Sociology, Stanford University

[G]raceful, lucid, nontechnical and entertaining prose....A remarkable achievement. (Mark Granovetter, Joan Butler Ford Professor of Sociology, Stanford University )

Customer Reviews

Networks of sex partners and the Net-Are they really related
The surprising answer is yes. I picked this book up after reading Steven Strogatz's Sync which mentions a great deal about the science of networks. Buchanan explains how networks exist everywhere - the net, the web, the power grid, our circle of friends, our sex partners - and that they are in fact very similar to one another.

The phrase "six degrees of separation" comes from the fact that two randomly chosen people, A and B, will on average be connected by six social links. A knows C who knows D who knows E who knows F who knows G who finally knows B. Considering the world has over 6 billion people, an average separation of 6 seems unbelievable small, but the explanation of this incredible phenomenon lies in the makeup of our social network. Our close friends know each other but our cluster of friends has weak ties to other clusters through acquaintances, people we really don't know that well - that's why when one is looking for a job, it's better to tell an acquaintance rather than a friend so that our inquiry can jump to other clusters. Our social network is essentially highly clustered but enough links exist between these clusters to allow us to jump from ourselves to any other person through just an average of six links. Buchanan shows us how this kind of network exists everywhere as mentioned above although he distinguishes between egalitarian networks where clusters are roughly the same size and aristocratic networks such as the WWW where gigantic hubs like Amazon.com exist that link to millions of websites.

One of the most interesting chapters in the book deals with sexual networks. It turns out that in the network of sex partners, certain people have a great many more links than the average person in the network. Buchanan explains how the structure of the sexual network actually accounts for the rapid spread of HIV. The virus spread quickly because the hubs in the network spread it to their numerous partners. In fact, it turns out that a significant percentage of the inital HIV cases had a sexual relationship with one particular flight attendant.

As I wrote in my review for Strogatz's Sync, we are entering an era of science where disparate fields of study are being linked because many phenomena that we used to regard as unrelated now appear to have very similar underlying bases. It is exciting to read books like Nexus because it illustrates this point. You should definitely read this book if your are interested in the science of networks and want to know how so many different phenomena are being explained by the same underlying principles.

HIDDEN DESIGNS
Buchanan points out the hidden networks that tie together both the physical world and the world of consciousness, showing that amongst other things the Internet, electrical grids, the brain and the global economy are all systems with an underlying pattern that shares nature's design.

Physics, biology and other sciences have uncovered a multitude of unexpected connections between the operation of the human world and the functioning of other seemingly unrelated things. Many networks that seemed to be random are turning out to have a hidden order as revealed by the discipline of Complexity Theory.

The most interesting sections are those on the Internet, on the spread of AIDS and on economic systems. The author's conclusion is that many aspects of the world are indeed simpler than they appear on the surface and that there is a hidden and powerful design that binds everything together.

This fascinating book confirms many of the findings that I have encountered in other titles like Beyond Chaos by Mark Ward and Hidden Connections by Fritjof Capra. It concludes with a set of explanatory notes and a thorough index. Small World is a stimulating and thought provoking work.

Six Degrees of seperation.
Actually, I bought this book with the intention of reading about genetics algorithms although I was pleasantly surprised with the out come of the book.

The book is about how our large world is small and what seems chaotic is actually an organized small network.

The author starts with how networks in nature relate to networks in technology. A very strong case for "6 degrees of separation" for our society and "19 degrees of (link) separation" for the Internet. The rest of the book explains with historical examples how scientists were able to prove the networking concepts through human decision and thought process.

I gave this book 4 star because I did not think that the conclusion had the continuity of the other chapters. I would recommend this book to all individuals who would be interested in reading and understanding the connections and influences of nature in our "connected" world.

Have fun understanding that you closer then you think to the person next door.