Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life

Description

A cocktail party. A terrorist cell. Ancient bacteria. An international conglomerate. All are networks, and all are a part of a surprising scientific revolution. In Linked , Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, the nation's foremost expert in the new science of networks, takes us on an intellectual adventure to prove that social networks, corporations, and living organisms are more similar than previously thought. Barabasi shows that grasping a full understanding of network science will someday allow us to design blue-chip businesses, stop the outbreak of deadly diseases, and influence the exchange of ideas and information. Just as James Gleick and the Erdos-Renyi model brought the discovery of chaos theory to the general public, Linked tells the story of the true science of the future and of experiments in statistical mechanics on the internet, all vital parts of what would eventually be called the Barabasi-Albert model.

Albert-Laszlo Barabasi is a Distinguished University Professor at Northeastern University, where he directs the centre for Complex Network Research. He is also an associate member of the centre of Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB) at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University.

Linked could alter the way we think about all of the networks that affect our lives.--New York Times Linked gets really interesting, showing how this new science promises to change the way we conduct everything from medical treatment to the war on terrorism.--Washington Monthly Linked is the best choice for the layperson, because [Barabasi] minimizes the math and writes elegantly.--Detroit Free Press Linked should be mandatory reading for academics as a primer in good writing. Barabasi may be a scientist, but he didn't neglect his liberal arts education; his Renaissance man's curiosity roves across history, economics, medicine, and pop culture. He writes in understandable lay-speak glittering with wit.--Boston Globe A lively look at networks through time.--Washington Post A pleasure to read.... It's the fact that all of these networks can be explained and understood using the same concepts, and the same mathematics, that makes this book so important.--Christian Science Monitor (A Best Book of the Year) A sweeping look at a new and exciting science.--Donald Kennedy, editor-in-chief, Science Magazine All researchers dream of making a discovery that will transform their field. Albert-Laszlo Barabasi can go one better. In just three years, his discovery has started making waves in fields as diverse as ecology, molecular biology, computer science, and quantum physics.--New Scientist Captivating.... Linked is a playful, even exuberant romp through an exciting new field.--Time Out New York Remarkable.... A sweeping look at a new and exciting science.--Science These laws of networks may prove as robust and universal as Newton's laws of motion.--strategy + business (A Best Business Book of the Year)