In this remarkable book, Duncan Watts, one of the principal architects of network theory, sets out to explain the innovative research that he and o...
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reviews
Mar 18, 2010
FiveBooks
rated it: 
Aleks Krotoski, broadcaster, journalist, and academic specialising in technology and interactivity, has chosen to discuss Duncan J Watts’s Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age on FiveBooks as one of the top five on her subject - Virtual Living, saying that:
"...Watts has been looking at the small world phenomenon to identify whether the web itself has shrunk our world, and in fact it hasn’t… We still do have those six degrees of separation, even by e-mail, with somebody who’ More...
"...Watts has been looking at the small world phenomenon to identify whether the web itself has shrunk our world, and in fact it hasn’t… We still do have those six degrees of separation, even by e-mail, with somebody who’ More...
Dec 10, 2010
Kirsty
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A look at the maths behind the idea that there are 'six degreees of separation' and other networking theories. Interesting stuff and I like the fact that the author is not afraid to include plenty of graphs to illustrate his ideas, popular science books that insist on using only words drive me nuts.
Mar 13, 2009
Krista
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It's a sign of the author's great intelligence that I was able to understand this book...of course the parts that interested me the most were (1) network theory used to examine spread of disease (2) designing flexible, robust response systems.
Feb 08, 2010
Bill
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I really liked this. I love accessible science with references to the original work. It is similar to linked, and the topic is related, both excellent books to get you thinking about networks.
Aug 03, 2011
Bnjnanr
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A somewhat interesting perspective on sociology and how connected people really are. It gave new meaning to the saying "It's a small world".
Jan 15, 2012
Alexandria
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I became interested in Networks after reading Connected & after browsing related books online, everything pointed me towards reading this next. It's the perfect starting point for anyone interested in networks because it teaches you in detail how differents types of networks function, differ & relate to one another across all the scientific spectrums. I even found myself recognizing the authors colleagues from other network lit purchases I've made. I'm excited to see what's changed from 2003 to
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Jul 21, 2011
Jon
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Really fantastic, if dense, book. It educates & does a pretty good job of entertaining in the process. You finish knowing a lot more about the area of networks and where the state of the science on that topic was about 5-6 years ago. I'm motivated to track down some review articles to find out where things have gone.
Apr 05, 2010
Corey
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The mathematics is made accessible, but aside from the critique of Milgram's research, the book was surprisingly uninteresting.
Jul 06, 2011
Paula
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I only got about halfway through this before I had to return it to the library, so I intend to come back to it. But what I read so far is great. Duncan Watts is an amazing thinker and communicator.
Nov 15, 2011
Rick
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This book was OK. I think I would have liked it more if I knew more about math and statistics. Watts raised some interesting points in his book and who can forget playing the 6 degrees from Kevin Bacon. Watts was not able to apply his findings to real world examples in a way that made the connections understandable to a layman. In addition, at the end of it all there was no tangible finding or process that could be applied by a reader to more effectively utilize networks.
Oct 10, 2011
Christine
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Another good overview of the recent development of network science. I found the book fascinating and easy to read. There isn't much math and Duncan Watts explains the big concepts pretty clearly. I had encountered most of the ideas already, in more technical situations, but it was nice to get a big overview of how everything might fit together.
May 01, 2009
Indra
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very interesting narrative of Watts and some of his collaborators and how some key developments in the field came about and also an accessible account of a number of ideas in network theory helpful for non-mathematicians.
Nov 10, 2008
Rahmad
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Small world effects are around us. This books is a popular introduction to this small world effects and its consequences on social networks and our constantly connected world.
Cautions though, some part of the books need a slow read.
Cautions though, some part of the books need a slow read.
Jul 08, 2007
Scott
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The Kevin Bacon six degrees is explained. This really shows how connected we are in this world and how not so random it is. I really enjoyed this book.
Aug 03, 2009
Nathan
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Very interesting book on the science of networks. When I get some time I plan on reading it again.
Aug 10, 2008
Susan
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a fairly new way of looking at the world and solving interdisciplinary problems
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