Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age (Open Market Edition) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

You may be only six degrees away from Kevin Bacon, but would he lend you his car? It depends on the network that links you. In Six Degrees, sociologist Duncan Watts examines networks like these: what they are, how they're being studied, and what we can use them for. When the power goes out, when we find that a stranger knows someone we know, when dot-com stocks soar in price, networks are evident. To illustrate the often complicated mathematics that describe such structures, Watts uses plenty of examples from real life, without which this book would quickly move beyond a general science readership. Small chapters make each thought-provoking conclusion easy to swallow, though some are hard to digest. For instance, in a short bit on "coercive externalities", Watts sums up sociological research showing that:

Conversations concerning politics displayed a consistent pattern ... On election day, the strongest predictor of electoral success was not which party an individual privately supported but which party he or she expected would win."

Six Degrees attempts to help readers understand the new and exciting field of networks and complexity. While considerably more demanding than a general book such as The Tipping Point, it offers readers a snapshot of a riveting moment in science, when understanding things such as disease epidemics and the stock market seems almost within our reach. --Therese Littleton, Amazon.com -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

You may be only six degrees away from Kevin Bacon, but would he let you borrow his car? It depends on the structures within the network that links you. When the power goes out, when we find that a stranger knows someone we know, when dot-com stocks soar in price, networks are evident. In Six Degrees, sociologist Duncan Watts examines networks like these: what they are, how they're being studied, and what we can use them for. To illustrate the often complicated mathematics that describe such structures, Watts uses plenty of examples from life, without which this book would quickly move beyond a general science readership. Small chapters make each thought-provoking conclusion easy to swallow, though some are hard to digest. For instance, in a short bit on "coercive externalities," Watts sums up sociological research showing that:

"Conversations concerning politics displayed a consistent pattern .... On election day, the strongest predictor of electoral success was not which party an individual privately supported but which party he or she expected would win."

Six Degrees attempts to help readers understand the new and exciting field of networks and complexity. While considerably more demanding than a general book like The Tipping Point, it offers readers a snapshot of a riveting moment in science, when understanding things like disease epidemics and the stock market seems almost within our reach. --Therese Littleton -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

In the dubious sociological conjecture that a chain of no more than six social links joins every person to every other person on the globe, Watts finds a paradigmatic illustration of the phenomenon that he and other new-breed scientists are probing for answers to a wide range of questions--biological, cybernetic, sociological, and economic. In surprising ways, these pioneers are demonstrating how the spread of natural and computer viruses, the collapse of financial markets, and the outbreak of forest fires all manifest the behavior of networked systems. Each breakthrough in unraveling the formulas governing such diversity advances new possibilities for predicting when a tiny ripple in biological or social events will swell into a tidal wave and for anticipating when the shock of natural or human catastrophe will dissipate. Because he is describing a science still under construction, Watts can sketch out only provisional models. But because these models cut across many disciplines and because Watts explains them all in accessible terms, a great many readers will accept his invitation to explore the frontiers of a new intellectual enterprise. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Columbia sociology professor Watts sums up his groundbreaking work on the networks, from computers to terrorist cells, that shape contemporary life.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

This is a story that is both personal and remarkable for its ability to convey the wonder of complex science. --Bill Miller, CEO of Legg Mason Funds

A thought-provoking and well-written study of the new science of networks - social, electrical, computer and economic. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Taschenbuch .

Combining a historical survey of the field with real-world examples, this book sets out to explain the research being done to create a blueprint of our connected planet, and shows how a multidiciplinary science of networks has come into being.