Rating: 
Summary: Six Degrees of seperation.
Review: Actually, I bought this book with the intention of reading about genetics algorithms although I was pleasantly surprised with the out come of the book.
The book is about how our large world is small and what seems chaotic is actually an organized small network.
The author starts with how networks in nature relate to networks in technology. A very strong case for "6 degrees of separation" for our society and "19 degrees of (link) separation" for the Internet. The rest of the book explains with historical examples how scientists were able to prove the networking concepts through human decision and thought process.
I gave this book 4 star because I did not think that the conclusion had the continuity of the other chapters. I would recommend this book to all individuals who would be interested in reading and understanding the connections and influences of nature in our "connected" world.
Have fun understanding that you closer then you think to the person next door.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book! The amazing new science of networks made easy.
Review: Buchanan makes the complex seem easy for the layman. The work of Watts and Strogats in discovering the mathematical proof of the the six degrees of separation concept is presented in an eminently readable and exciting way.
This proof, and Buchanan's description of it, is powerful evidence of the value of networking for the majority of us who don't like it or feel it is a waste of time. I recommend Nexus to my audiences in every Power of Positive Networking Seminar I deliver; people who have read it from my classes are truly dazzled. Darcy Rezac: author, The Frog and Prince.
Rating:
Summary: HIDDEN DESIGNS
Review: Buchanan points out the hidden networks that tie together both the physical world and the world of consciousness, showing that amongst other things the Internet, electrical grids, the brain and the global economy are all systems with an underlying pattern that shares nature's design. Physics, biology and other sciences have uncovered a multitude of unexpected connections between the operation of the human world and the functioning of other seemingly unrelated things. Many networks that seemed to be random are turning out to have a hidden order as revealed by the discipline of Complexity Theory. The most interesting sections are those on the Internet, on the spread of AIDS and on economic systems. The author's conclusion is that many aspects of the world are indeed simpler than they appear on the surface and that there is a hidden and powerful design that binds everything together. This fascinating book confirms many of the findings that I have encountered in other titles like Beyond Chaos by Mark Ward and Hidden Connections by Fritjof Capra. It concludes with a set of explanatory notes and a thorough index. Small World is a stimulating and thought provoking work.
Rating:
Summary: makes you think a little differently
Review: Buchanan really does as promised by the jacket - discusses networks and their similarities in areas such as social, neural, financial, disease, and information. He focuses mainly on the "small-world" principal that we're all familiar with, (i.e. the Kevin Bacon game) and shows how other successful network type application use the same model, from worm neurons to taxes.
The book is extremely non-technical, and you don't need any prerequisite learning to enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Good primer on network theory
Review: I don't usually enjoy popular science books, but this one is an exception. Buchanan's main advantage over other books on network theory is that he combines the findings of Watts & Strogatz, Barabasi and Gladwell and produces a very well written account that serves as a comprehensive introduction to this field. It doesn't get five stars from me only because of several unwarranted references (e.g. to Plato or to Stalin's purges) which do not belong in the book. Readers without math, do not fear. If you want more network math, read Watts' "Small Worlds".
Network theory is fascinating, but I think that its effectiveness will depend on the observational possibilities in different fields (as Buchanan explains, it is a lot more doable to map the internet than e.g. ecological food chains). On the other hand, it seems reasonable to extrapolate the existence of scale-free networks (I am not sure about the egalitarian kind) to almost any complex system, and this is enough to give this theory a lot of attention at this time.
Rating:
Summary: It's a small world after all.
Review: I just finished reading Nexus right after I finished Steven Johnson's book, Emergence. Both are great, quick reads. The ideas are fascinating and build upon chaos theory that James Gleick gives a history of in Chaos, which is the last book I read that addressed topics such as complexity. It's a great thrill to receive journalistic reports on what has happened in the small-worlds theory and gaining a cursory understanding of its current and future applications. I also just started reading Harold Morowitz's The Emergence of Everything, which is interesting in its subject matter while the writing is much more austere than in Emergence and Nexus. I look forward to reading everything I can on the small-worlds, complexity theory-type popular science books.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific snapshot of a hot new field!
Review: I wasn't sure I would like this book when my brother bought it for me -- but I did! It covers a truly wide range of material. Extremely impressive. Amazingly, as the book shows, strong mathematical links seem to connect the workings of biological cells with the Internet, social networks and many other complex networks, even neural networks and the human brain. The writing is extremely clear and there is little chance of misunderstanding. This is one of those areas of "hyped" research that really lives up to the hype. From a personal point of view, I especially enjoyed the final chapters on economics and social capital. Something really seems to be emerging here -- a deep link between social patterns and natural patterns in the physical world
Rating:
Summary: Complete and good to read.
Review: In this book, Buchanan introduces to the non-expert audience one of the most recent and stimulating theories in the study of complexity: the theory of networks. The author does so by using a clear and fresh prose, deprived of specialistic mathematical terms. He will guide the reader through this theory and its many practical applications, being they in economy, epidemiology or ecology. The book is not exactly linear, somewhat jumping from one example to another and a few digressions are almost confusing. It is rich in information and very good references, although a couple of imprecisions about Euclid and Pythagoras had me frowning. However, being not too long, this book manages to get the reader to understand the points made and never ceased to surprise and interest me.
I recommend this book to the non-mathematician interested in complexity and theory of networks. The book will be an ideal starting point for further reading.
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to a broad subject
Review: The author makes a strong case that many diverse phenomena can be modelled in very similar ways. This book can be summarized as a very brief introduction to network models, followed by numerous examples from the real world. The level of mathematical sophistication needed to comprehend the matterial is minimal. I do not believe there are any equations in the entire book. There are many easily understood graphs and a few percentages. The basic concept of the networks is very easy to explain and to understand. The applications are the interesting part. Thoughout the pages are clear and interesting examples that make you want to turn the page to see what is coming next. In my case I often found myself thinking how I would have approached the problem and more importantly what problems could this have been applied to. Any book that can do that is a good one in my book! Like many good books, this one leaves more questions unanswered than it answers. The subject area is a generic one that allows it's self to be applied in many many different fields. The question becomes not is this model of the world valid but rather how can it be applied. This was a quick read, certain to change my views on how the world works.
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to a broad subject
Review: The author makes a strong case that many diverse phenomena can be modelled in very similar ways. This book can be summarized as a very brief introduction to network models, followed by numerous examples from the real world. The level of mathematical sophistication needed to comprehend the matterial is minimal. I do not believe there are any equations in the entire book. There are many easily understood graphs and a few percentages. The basic concept of the networks is very easy to explain and to understand. The applications are the interesting part. Thoughout the pages are clear and interesting examples that make you want to turn the page to see what is coming next. In my case I often found myself thinking how I would have approached the problem and more importantly what problems could this have been applied to. Any book that can do that is a good one in my book! Like many good books, this one leaves more questions unanswered than it answers. The subject area is a generic one that allows it's self to be applied in many many different fields. The question becomes not is this model of the world valid but rather how can it be applied. This was a quick read, certain to change my views on how the world works.
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