FROM THE BACK COVER

We live in a world of networks where everything is amazingly close to everything else.
The notion of `network' turns out to be central to our times: the Internet and WWW are
changing our lives; our physical existence is based on various biological networks; we
are envolved in all-enveloping networks of economic and social relations.

Only in the 1990th did physicists begin to explore real networks, both natural and artificial,
as evolving systems with intriguingly complex and effective architectures. Progress has
been so immediate and astounding that we actually face a new science based on a new
set of concepts, and, one may even say, on a new philosophy: the natural philosophy of a
small world. Old ideas from mathematics, statistical physics, biology, computer science,
and so on take on quite new forms in applications to real evolving networks.

  • What is common to all networks?
  • What are the general principles of the organization and evolution of networks?
  • How do the laws of nature work in communication, biological and social networks?
  • What are networks?

    This book, written by physicists, answers these questions and presents a general insight
    into the world of networks.