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Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks (by Mark Buchanan)
Two books are usually named as an introduction to network theory: "Linked: The New Science of Networks" by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi and "Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks" by Mark Buchanan. Whereas the former book seems to sell better, I liked the latter much more.
Network theory focusses on the interaction between elements of a system and not on the elements themselves. Thus, it differentiates from the regular scientific approach, i.e. what is generally referred to as reductionism ("Reductionism is an approach to building descriptions of systems out of the descriptions of the subsystems that a system is composed of, and ignoring the relationships between them."). As is shown throughout the book, recent advances in network theory have shown common rules and behaviors in all different kinds of networks, be it biological, ecological, related to physics, the economy, or human life. Network theory thus promises to permeate many scientific fields in the coming years.
The single biggest insight of the new science of networks is what is commonly referred to as the "small worlds phenomenon". Most large networks (many more than one would assume) share the same characteristic in that all of their elements can be connected to all the other elements via only a relatively short chain of connecting elements ("we are all connected to every other person on the planet via a maximum of six degrees"), which is made possible by so-called weak links that connect clusters of elements within a network and thus provide for shortcuts. Anyway, I am probably not explaining it very well, but a nice example is the Kevin Bacon game.
All that notwithstanding, the best thing about network theory is that it's as fascinating as science can get. And that's what Buchanan's book wonderfully achieves to convey. The book has a clear sense of structure never letting the reader down on knowing exactly where it aims to go. It first goes through various fields where network theory has been developped at, how it can be explained, and how its insights came into being. Then it moves on to apply the insights into all kinds of fields, for example the spread of diseases. Buchanan knows how to explain difficult phenomena and scientific issues without dumbing them down too much (something I felt was not so well achieved in the "Linked" book) and provides livid examples on the way.
Altogether, this is a fine introduction into an emerging field of science.
- Book Title: Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks
- Book Author: Mark Buchanan
- Year of Publication: 2003
- Buy the book at Amazon.com.
- My rating:
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