Six Degrees: the Science of a Connected Age. - book review

Science News, March 8, 2003

DUNCAN J. WATTS

How do small outbreaks of disease become epidemics? How do populations of flashing fireflies or beating pacemaker cells manage to synchronize their rhythms? How vulnerable is the U.S. power grid or the Internet to attack? Reporting from the front line of the emerging science of networks Columbia University sociologist Watts gives an insider's account of how this field is defining our connectedness. Watts reveals how individual behavior aggregates into collective behavior--a phenomenon that can be understood only through work in several scientific disciplines. Once he defines the nature of networks, he discusses the myriad ways that networks bind together everything from our economy to our airports and highway systems. Norton, 2003, 368 p., hardcover, $27.95,