Linked

The New Science of Networks

By: Albert-Laszlo Barabasi

Narrated by: Henry Levya

A cocktail party? A terrorist cell? Ancient bacteria? An international conglomerate?

All are networks, and all are a part of a surprising scientific revolution. Albert-László Barabási, the nation’s foremost expert in the new science of networks and author of Bursts, takes us on an intellectual adventure to prove that social networks, corporations, and living organisms are more similar than previously thought. Grasping a full understanding of network science will someday allow us to design blue-chip businesses, stop the outbreak of deadly diseases, and influence the exchange of ideas and information. Just as James Gleick and the Erdos–Rényi model brought the discovery of chaos theory to the general public, Linked tells the story of the true science of the future and of experiments in statistical mechanics on the internet, all vital parts of what would eventually be called the Barabási–Albert model.Executive Producer: Karen DiMattia
Jacket design by Alex Camlin
©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

Very useful summary of the science of networks

I am now on my 3rd time through the audiobook, more and more ideas come to mind each time. Both the writing and the narrating are done extremely well for anyone wanting to get their head around this heady topic. The author gives a good variety of examples to drive home the ubiquity of the math behind networks of all kinds.

Interesting perspective that keeps coming back.

It's been over a year since I listened. While it was a most interesting listen, I was non-committal about the conclusions. But over the past year the book's ideas keep coming back to me. As I watch the way things unfold in technology, economics, politics and more, I am often reminded of the book and must conceed to the truth of its theories. Witness for example the evolution of ebay in the two years since Linked was published...true to form indeed.

Not just a

I read this based on a colleague's recommendation, thinking I would spend most of my time thinking about networks in the sense of the "Internet." True, the internet is a prominent feature of the book, but the books real genius in its ability to see connectedness in economies, biology, social circles, and more.

Though written for a lay audience, parts of the book may get a little technical for some people's taste. But it is certainly not out of reach for those with at least some techno-tolerance.

The reconstruction of complex systems.

Reductionism is at the heart of the scientific process, but in the end, we must be able to reconstruct a complex system from its basic components in order to understand its emergent behaviors. Such behaviors frequently go unexplained. The realization that complex systems that appear to be chaotic and random actually follow quite simple laws that is mathematically quantifiable cuts across a multitude of disciplines. This book is not just about the internet, although it is certainly discussed. It is more about a possible paradigm for explaining how and why complex systems demonstrate a self-organizing capability. Although it can be quite dry listening, this book presents the listener with an insight into what the next century of science has to offer.

Slow start, strong finish

This is a thorough discussion of network theory. The first part of the book goes into great, and sometimes tedious, detail. If you have the patience to wait for the cake to bake, however, the frosting is quite tasty. The second half of the book is about applications and real-world examples of every sort of network you might imagine and several you probably won't.