The Power of Networks: Six Principles That Connect Our Lives
By Christopher G. Morris

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.