Linked

The New Science of Networks

By: Albert-Laszlo Barabasi

Narrated by: Henry Leyva

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

From a cocktail party to a terrorist cell, from an ancient bacteria to an international conglomerate - all are networks, and all are part of a surprising scientific revolution. A maverick group of scientists is discovering that all networks have a deep underlying order and operate according to simple but powerful rules. This knowledge promises to shed light on the spread of fads and viruses, the robustness of ecosystems, the vulnerability of economies - even the future of democracy.

Now, for the first time, a scientist whose own work has transformed the study of "links and nodes" takes us inside the unfolding network revolution. Albert-Laszlo Barabasi traces the fascinating history of connected systems, beginning with mathematician Leonhard Euler's first forays into graph theory in the late 1700s and culminating in biologists' development of cancer drugs based on a new understanding of cellular networks.

Combining narrative flare with sparkling insights, Barabasi introduces us to the myriad modern-day "cartographers" mapping networks in a range of scientific disciplines. Aided by powerful computers, they are proving that social networks, corporations, and cells are more similar than they are different. Their discoveries provide an important new perspective on the interconnected world around us.

Linked reveals how Google came to be the Internet's most popular search engine, how Vernon Jordan's social network affects the entire American economy, what it would take to bring down a terrorist organization like al Qaeda, and why an obscure finding of Einstein's could change the way we look at the networks in our own lives. Understanding the structure and behavior of networks will forever alter our world, allowing us to design the "perfect" business or stop a disease outbreak before it goes global.

Engaging and authoritative, Linked provides an exciting preview of the next century in science.

Also available in print from Perseus Publishing.

©2002 Albert-Laszlo Barabasi
(P)2002 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A sweeping look at a new and exciting science." (Donald Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief, Science Magazine)

"Captivating.... Linked is a playful, even exuberant romp through an exciting new field." (Time Out New York)

From a LAN...

I'm a Network Admin by day, astronomer by night... this book will touch on every aspect of your scientific mind whether you have one or not. I'm always amazed by our modeling of nature; Networks are no exception.

Great stuff

This is a great book if you have a mind for math/logic. As a programmer I found great interest in the talk of highly connected networks as a new model of looking at the world. Wonderful listen, and definitely worth a second, third, or fourth time if are into the subject.

Loved it.

Very interesting. Fast paced and fun. You will enjoy it.

Great Book

What made the experience of listening to Linked the most enjoyable?

The subject of the book is quite complex, but very interesting. The knowledge I acquired was the most important.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Not applicable

Which scene was your favorite?

Not applicable

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Not applicable

Any additional comments?

I recommend this book for everyone who wants to deepen their understanding of the modern world highly connected

must read to understand network dynamics

network drives many of the complex systems of our world, this book unravels the maths behind ithese dynamical systems.

Disappointing

Although I had found Barabasi's papers interesting, the book seems to be at a low technical level and did not hold my attention.

Puffery

I was very disappointed in this lightweight listen. The author is extremely proud of some elementary results that seem obvious to anyone with a serious math or comp. sci. background. He has so little to say that he repeats it many times. Links on the internet are not random! Are you amazed?

To make a book out of what should have been a short article, he then predicts marvellous advances in medicine based on his "discoveries," completely disregarding the problems of production and economic issues. If nanotechnology succeeds, will networkologists take credit?

A final nit: He uses the spread of AIDS as an example of a network, with patients as nodes and sexual contacts as links. However, many of his "facts" are wrong--he propagates myths that support his points but do not stand up under scrutiny. AIDS is not a "pandemic". People aren't virtually certain to die with 10 years of infection with HIV. Heterosexual contact does not spread AIDS. Kaposi's sarcoma is not caused by HIV and is not contagious.

This book did not teach me anything. Just a glimpse into how self-important academics can become.

Even a Refund will not do justice

I am an Engineer with math and logi background. But this author mixes up every thing. Gosh. People with links is not same as links on a web page. To me the researches roped in internet also to rope in more readers. How did their crawler determine yahoo or google as a hub? It could'nt have done it as searches Engines index all info but not many provide a link to yahoo and some pages.

I give those 2 stars as some one took time to work on such a topic as Links.

Some one give me my time please.

Euler is pronounced "Oil"er, not "Eye"er

F for the narrator. He obviously doesn't have a science background, which would be ok if only he would take the trouble to pronounce words correctly. With an audiobook, the pronunciation is key - the reader has no other means to know what the he*l is written down.

Dissenting Voice -

I found this this book disappointing and repetitive.

It seemed a classic example of three interesting points spun out into a book-length treatment. The authors seemed unsure whether they were writing an instructional book for business networking, an academic treatise on networking theory, or their own curricula vitae. The result is maddeningly dry and circular.

The exhaustive explanation, discussion and criticism of obviously flawed and outdated networking theories is nothing but filler and occupies the bulk of book. Their unsupported extrapolations to politics and society are spurious and frequently laughable. Anyone interested in the subject should buy the paper version instead and skim aggressively.