Six degrees: the science of a connected age

Abstract

At the beginning of the 21st century, a maverick group of scientists is discovering that all networks—from a cocktail party to a terrorist cell to an international conglomerate—have a deep underlying order and operate according to simple but powerful rules. Knowledge of the structure and behavior of these networks illuminates everything from the vulnerability of economies to the way diseases are spread, allowing us to design the “perfect” business or stop an outbreak before it goes global. This paragraph is from the press release for the