Handbook of Graphs and Networks: From the Genome to the Internet [Hardcover]

Stefan Bornholdt (Editor), Heinz Georg Schuster (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 3527403361 | ISBN-13: 978-3527403363 | Publication Date: February 3, 2003 | Edition: 1

Complex interacting networks are observed in systems from such diverse areas as physics, biology, economics, ecology, and computer science. For example, economic or social interactions often organize themselves in complex network structures. Similar phenomena are observed in traffic flow and in communication networks as the internet. In current problems of the Biosciences, prominent examples are protein networks in the living cell, as well as molecular networks in the genome. On larger scales one finds networks of cells as in neural networks, up to the scale of organisms in ecological food webs.

This book defines the field of complex interacting networks in its infancy and presents the dynamics of networks and their structure as a key concept across disciplines.

The contributions present common underlying principles of network dynamics and their theoretical description and are of interest to specialists as well as to the non-specialized reader looking for an introduction to this new exciting field.
Theoretical concepts include modeling networks as dynamical systems with numerical methods and new graph theoretical methods, but also focus on networks that change their topology as in morphogenesis and self-organization. The authors offer concepts to model network structures and dynamics, focussing on approaches applicable across disciplines.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Overall, this reviewer highly recommends this Handbook of Graphs and Networks, both for the nonspecialist students and researchers and the experts as well. It serves as a good source of reference for both communities...an interested reader does profit from this collection of minireviews and likely becomes invigorated to do his/her own research in this fascinating field. Being so, this book belongs on the desk of any practitioner of this new and exciting research area." (ChemPhysChem, September 2003)

From the Back Cover

This book defines the field of complex interacting networks in its infancy and presents the dynamics of networks and their structure as a key concept across disciplines. The contributions present common underlying principles of network dynamics and their theoretical description and are of interest to specialists as well as to the non-specialized reader looking for an introduction to this new exciting field.

Theoretical concepts include modeling networks as dynamical systems with numerical methods and new graph theoretical approaches, but also focus on networks that change their topology as in morphogenesis and self-organization. The authors offer concepts to model network structures and dynamics, focussing on approaches applicable across disciplines.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 417 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-VCH; 1 edition (February 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3527403361
• ISBN-13: 978-3527403363
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,029,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crosses Many Disciplines, January 2, 2004

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Handbook of Graphs and Networks: From the Genome to the Internet (Hardcover)

The attraction of this book is the chance of serendipity. The sheer joy and possibility of thumbing through it and stumbling across something germane to your research, but totally unforeseen by you or others.

The book sits astride several disciplines. Mostly biology. But also computer networks, of which, of course, the Internet is the primary and largest example. But the book also covers some portions of sociology. The classic six degrees of separation between any two people in the world. Actually this is more a metaphor than the literal truth. But still useful in understanding human networks.

If you are currently working with some type of network, your expertise in it, while being a strength, may also be a weakness if it makes you unaware of qualitatively different networks that yet have some commonality with yours.