Saturday, May 29, 2010
"Linked " by Albert-laszlo Barabasi
Linked
Author: Albert-Laszlo Barabasi
How many times have you met a stranger hundreds or thousands of miles away from your home, just to realise after a five-minute discussion that you have a common acquaintance? You say, “Small world...” But how is it that we’re so close to perfect strangers?
How is it possible to have a path of three to five handshakes to just about any of the six billion inhabitants of our crowded planet?
The answer lies in the fact that society is a very densely connected network in which we are nodes, and links represent our numerous social, professional, or family relationships. Recently, we’ve learned that the small worlds we experience in society are just about everywhere. Three years ago, my research group showed most web pages are 19 clicks from each other, and that between any two chemicals in our cells there is a chain of three reactions...
Economists have realised that all Fortune 1000 directors are fewer than five handshakes from each other through the boards on which they jointly serve. Yet, the most important revelation about networks — the one that is exciting scientists from all disciplines — has little to do with small worlds. Rather, it is the realisation that the networks appearing in all different segments of nature and society are indistinguishable.
We now understand that real networks are far from being a bunch of nodes randomly linked to each other. Instead, a few hubs, nodes with an exceptionally large number of connections, keep most networks together. A few individuals with an extraordinary ability to make friends keep society together.
Post Script : This book got 5 star rating on Amazon.com. Link here :
http://www.amazon.com/Linked-Everything-Connected-Else-Means/dp/0452284392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275157429&sr=1-1
