Networks: A Very Short Introduction – Book Review
The rise of Internet has put the idea of networks in the forefront of public consciousness, which has only been accentuated with the arrival of (online) social networks. However, explicit or implicit networks are a very salient part of our lives and have been so for quite some time: roads and railroads, kinship networks, commercial networks, are all just some of the examples of networks that we come across all the time. And then there are predator-pray networks, protein interaction networks, and a myriad other examples of networking phenomena. Once you adapt the network paradigm as a guiding principle of organizing the world you start seeing networks everywhere.
This is a very short introduction to networks which covers both the concrete examples of networks as well as the their theoretical description. There are many interesting historical vignettes in it, and quite a few conceptual insights. It is a very well written and resourced book. It has all the qualities that one has come to associate with these short introductions – written by an expert in the field, and yet accessible to a wide range of readers. I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in networks of any sort.
About the Author
Bojan Tunguz
Bojan Tunguz was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which he and his family fled during the civil war for the neighboring Croatia. Over the past two decades he has studied, lived and worked in the United States. He is a theoretical physicist with degrees from Stanford and University of Illinois. Tunguz has taught physics at several prominent liberal arts colleges and has been writing about physics, science and technology for more than a decade. He also has a wide spectrum of interests, and reads and writes about current events, society, culture, religion and politics. Over the years he has reviewed many of the books that he has read, and posted his reviews on various online outlets. In 2011 he had become a top 10 reviewer on Amazon.com, where he continues to be very active. Aside from reading and writing, Tunguz enjoys traveling, digital photography, hiking, and fitness. He resides with his wife in Indiana. You can follow my review updates on the following pages as well: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tunguzreview Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tunguzreviews Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/104312842297641697463/posts
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