Scale-Free Networks: Complex Webs in Nature and Technology (Oxford Finance) Review

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Scale-Free Networks: Complex Webs in Nature and Technology (Oxford Finance) ReviewThis book is a welcome fix to a gap in the complex network literature. It is sufficently detailed to enable the
reader to enter into research in the field, but does not assume any technical background knowledge. It is divided into two parts: the first gives an overview of the theory of complex networks; the second, a collection of applications from different areas of academia.
The author is a leading researcher in the field, and because of this many of the applications are the subject of current research. The book does not attempt to be exhaustive, which is one of its strengths: it is a highly readable and fascinating survey of the more exciting aspects of complex networks. The book will likely be taken up as one of the standard undergraduate textbooks in the field.
Finally, I note that Caldarelli makes use of an amusing literary device: the first sentence of each chapter is an adaptation of a first sentence from a famous book. While this will provide mirth for most readers, it seems to have confounded one reviewer.
For example:
Foundation by Isaac Asimov: His name was Gaal Dornick and he was just a country boy who had never seen Trantor before.
Caldarelli: His name was Leonard Euler and he was just a country boy who had never seen Königsberg before.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter.
Caldarelli: You don't know about graphs without you have read the previous chapter; but that ain't no matter.
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The Hidden Connections: Integrating The Biological, Cognitive, And Social Dimensions Of Life Into A Science Of Sustainability Review

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The Hidden Connections: Integrating The Biological, Cognitive, And Social Dimensions Of Life Into A Science Of Sustainability ReviewIf you are looking to save the world via fiction, see Daniel Quinn. If you are looking to save the world via non-fiction, look no further than Hidden Connections. This book will provide you with everything you need (including a new mind and new conception of self) to get right with the ecosphere and the damage we have all helped inflict upon her. (Don't think the world is in trouble, see Lester Brown's ECO-ECONOMY).
Not a science buff, chapter one didn't blow my doors, although I was interested by what Capra had to say and (luckily) was able to wrap my head around all the concepts. In this chapter, he traces the evolution of life on the planet, and therewith provides a novel definition of life. A good place to start any book, I suppose, but certainly one about the future prospects of life on this planet.
Chapter two deals with mind and consciousness. In this chapter, Capra bridges the ancient Cartesian chasm between mind and body, defines cognition and consciousness, and explains the meaning of language. He even throws out some theories about the origin and evolution of all the above.
Chapter three breaks from the previous two chapters, as Capra delves into social reality. In this chapter he gives meaning to the world "meaning," explains social theory from Max Weber to Habermas, discusses human freedom, explains the three forms of power (coercive, compensatory, and conditioned power, or education), and talks about technology and culture.
For me, the book really picks up with chapter four, "Life and Leadership in Organizations." This chapter, Capra discusses what the definition of life means when applied to the corporate business world. Issues such as managment, labor rights, and the role of creativity are sure to please. It is this chapter that gets the ball rolling, which doesn't stop until the very last page.
Chapter seven almost left me breathless. Here Capra provides a thoroughgoing critique of the globalization. Books like THE CASE AGAINST THE GLOBAL ECONOMY are much longer and more detailed, but that is exactly what gives Capra's presentation unique: As with every subject, he synthesizes his argument into concise, lazer-like prose, drawing upon the work of hundreds of scholars, all well-documented in an A++ index.
Chapter eight deals with biotechnology, perhaps the defining charadcteristic of 21st century. This chapter covers a lot of ground: He explains genes, advances the freewill-determinism argument (freewill wins), gives a concise history of the Green Revolution, genetically modified organisms, the silent organic revolution, biopiracy, ecodesign, and biomimicry. As with the chapter on the global economy, this chapter is written in stunning prose that will not disappoint.
The last chapter is called "Changing the Game". In this chapter, Capra outlines the ecocide we are inflicting on the planet (again, a subject discussed singularly and to great satisfaction in ECO-ECONOMY), and what we can do to fix it. In this chapter, he gives a coherent definition of sustainability, outlines ecolitery, explains solar power, hypercars, converstion to a zero-waste hydrogen economy, and green tax shift that supports employment and taxes non-sustainable practices.
The way in which Capra weaves the concept of the network throughout the whole of this book is facinating, a subject which harkens back to his last book, THE WEB OF LIFE. Throughout HIDDEN CONNECTIONS, you will be exposed to many of networks with subtle power that is revolutionizing human culture and the fate of the planet as a whole: including academic networks, social protest networks and political networks. You will not finish this volume without feeling completely changed - and informed. No doubt, ecoliteracy can save the planet. I highly recommend this book.
A quote to wet your whistle: "Whereas the extraction of resources and the accumlation of waste are bound to reach their ecological limits, the evolution of life has demonstrated for more than three billion years that in a sustainable Earth houshold, there are no limits to development, diversification, innovation, and creativity."The Hidden Connections: Integrating The Biological, Cognitive, And Social Dimensions Of Life Into A Science Of Sustainability Overview

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The Structure and Dynamics of Networks: (Princeton Studies in Complexity) Review

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The Structure and Dynamics of Networks: (Princeton Studies in Complexity) ReviewCriticism of this book thus far stems from the following:
1) It is a collection of papers.
2) Some of those papers are fairly technical and may be a little daunting for beginners.
While both of these criticisms are accurate, they don't stop the book from being an excellent resource.
While it is a collection of papers, it is a very well-chosen one which includes some of the most important and influential papers in the field, and covers a wide array of subjects within it. Furthermore, each section has an intro written by the authors, which summarizes the works in the section in a fairly nontechnical manner.
This book saved me from days of basic research and frustration in trying to locate full-text articles, and when I was done with it I felt that I had a fairly good working knowledge of the field. I imagine it will be fairly handy for future reference as well.
As for (2), this book was my introduction to network analysis, and while I admit I was unable to read every paper, I was able to understand the main point of almost all of them. Caveat: I am a mathematician. However, as I said, I was previously unfamiliar to the field--and my background gave me little advantage considering I didn't care to go through the equations in detail.
I would recommend this book to anyone with a mildly technical background (say, a few years of university-level science, engineering, or math under their belt) interested in learning about network theory.The Structure and Dynamics of Networks: (Princeton Studies in Complexity) Overview

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