The Power of Networks: Six Principles That Connect Our Lives - Hardcover

Brinton, Christopher G.; Chiang, Mung

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691170711 ISBN 13: 9780691170718

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2016

Synopsis

An accessible illustrated introducton to the networks we use every day, from Facebook and Google to WiFi and the Internet

What makes WiFi faster at home than at a coffee shop? How does Google order search results? Why do Amazon, Netflix, and YouTube use fundamentally different rating and recommendation methods―and why does it matter? Is it really true that everyone on Facebook is connected in six steps or less? And how do cat videos―or anything else―go viral? The Power of Networks answers questions like these for the first time in a way that all of us can understand and use, whether at home, the office, or school. Using simple language, analogies, stories, hundreds of illustrations, and no more math than simple addition and multiplication, Christopher Brinton and Mung Chiang provide a smart but accessible introduction to the handful of big ideas that drive the technical and social networks we use every day―from cellular phone networks and cloud computing to the Internet and social media platforms.

The Power of Networks unifies these ideas through six fundamental principles of networking, which explain the difficulties in sharing network resources efficiently, how crowds can be wise or not so wise depending on the nature of their connections, how there are many building-blocks of layers in a network, and more. Understanding these simple ideas unlocks the workings of everything from the connections we make on Facebook to the technology that runs such platforms. Along the way, the authors also talk with and share the special insights of renowned experts such as Google's Eric Schmidt, former Verizon Wireless CEO Dennis Strigl, and "fathers of the Internet" Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn.

Networks are everywhere. The Power of Networks shows how they work―and what understanding them can do for you.

About this title

About the Author

Christopher G. Brinton is the Head of Advanced Research at Zoomi Inc., where he works on big-data analytics, social learning networks, and personalized learning. He holds a PhD in electrical engineering from Princeton University. Mung Chiang is the Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton, where he also serves as chairman of the Princeton Entrepreneurship Council and director of the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education. In 2013, he received the Alan T. Waterman Award from the National Science Foundation. Since 2012, Brinton and Chiang have introduced networks to hundreds of thousands of people around the world through massive open online courses.

From the Back Cover

"The Power of Networks is a wonderfully accessible account of the networking concepts that shape our technology and our society. With remarkable clarity, Brinton and Chiang reveal how the theory of networks illuminates the many connected aspects of our lives."--John MacCormick, author of Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future: The Ingenious Ideas That Drive Today's Computers

"Networks have played a powerful connective role in human societies since the dawn of agriculture. Brinton and Chiang document and analyze this phenomenon--and reinforce our appreciation of it."--Vint Cerf, Internet pioneer

"This insightful, readable book shows how the Internet of Things is being transformed, starting with connectivity. Whether you are a technology consumer or work in industry, this is the book for you."--Jeff G. Fedders, Chief Strategist, Intel Corporation, and President, OpenFog Consortium

"This book is a manual for citizenship in the twenty-first century, a world where networks help us find our place by sharing information about who we are, and about what we would like to do."--Robert Calderbank, Duke University

"As humans, we are networked' by nature. Our bodies are networked from head to toe by the most sophisticated network that exists, and the value of networking was even understood by our ancestors as they began to network in order to hunt more efficiently. The Power of Networks explains how six basic networking principles connect our lives almost as an extension of our primordial instincts--but in more advanced ways than our ancestors could have imagined. It is an absolutely intriguing book."--Helder Antunes, Senior Director, Cisco's Corporate Strategic Innovations Group, and Chairman, OpenFog Consortium

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691170711
• ISBN 13: 9780691170718
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 328