In this remarkable book, Duncan Watts, one of the principal architects
of network theory, sets out to explain the innovative research that he
and other scientists are spearheading to create a blueprint of our
connected planet. Whether they bind computers, economies, or terrorist
organizations, networks are everywhere in the real world, yet only
recently have scientists attempted to explain their mysterious workings.
From epidemics of disease to outbreaks of market madness, from people
searching for information to firms surviving crisis and change, from the
structure of personal relationships to the technological and social
choices of entire societies, Watts weaves together a network of
discoveries across an array of disciplines to tell the story of an
explosive new field of knowledge, the people who are building it, and
his own peculiar path in forging this new science.