Weak Links: The Universal Key to the Stability of Networks and Complex Systems (The Frontiers Collection) [Hardcover]

Peter Csermely (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2006 | Series: The Frontiers Collection

How can our societies be stabilized in a crisis?  Why can we enjoy and understand Shakespeare? Why are fruitflies uniform? How do omnivorous eating habits aid our survival? What makes the Mona Lisa’s smile beautiful? How do women keep our social structures intact? – Could there possibly be a single answer to all these questions? This book shows that the statement: "weak links stabilize complex systems" provides the key to understanding each of these intriguing puzzles, and many more besides. The author, a recipient of several distinguished science communication prizes, explains weak or low probability interactions, and uses them as connecting threads in a vast variety of networks from proteins to ecosystems. This unique book and the ideas it develops will have a significant impact on diverse, seemingly unrelated fields of study.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Opinions "This is an excellent book, which shows the far-reaching consequences of the great variety of weak links. The book has a proper balance between a scientific monograph and a popular approach, and mixes humor with sharp intellect. "Weak Links" is an adventurous, entertainingly eclectic and rich work both for the experts and laymen." (Lászlo-Albert Barabási, Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, author of the bestseller book, Linked and the 1999 seminal Science paper on the preferential attachment model of scale-free network topology.) "You have written a very personal, engaging, and unique book that will appeal to readers and get them thinking." (Steve Strogatz, Dept. of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics, Cornell University, author of Sync and the 1998 seminal Nature paper on small worlds.) "You have done a great service by making the world of networks understandable and clear. I will use your book in my classes." (Caroline S. Wagner, Center of International Science & Technology Policy, George Washington University, author of several science policy-related books including the an upcoming work on the international collaboration in science) "This book links an exceptionally large number of areas and gives exciting novel information to both the network experts and the science-orinted general readership." (Tamás Vicsek, Dept. Biological Physics, Eötvös University, author of several network-related Nature papers including a method to determine overlapping network modules) "This masterpiece should serve as an example how science can be discussed. Entertaining yet thought provoking." (György Buzsáki, Board of Governors Professor, Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Rutgers University, a leading expert of neuronal networks) "You have written a true gem of a book; erudite, humane, funny, accessible and thoroughly fascinating. On every page, I find another delight that makes me smile and leads me down new intellectual paths (weak links again!). Thanks to your thorough footnotes, I can delve as deep as I would like into the professional papers. Outstanding - I wish more books were written this way. I have adopted your book as a textbook for my Science of Networks class, and I will recommend it to anyone who ask without hesitation. You did a great service to pedagogy and to this budding science with this magisterial survey. I really appreciate it and my students will, as well." (Daniel J. Bilar, Computer Science Department, Wellesley College MA, USA)

From the Back Cover

How can our societies be stabilized in a crisis?  Why can we enjoy and understand Shakespeare? Why are fruitflies uniform? How do omnivorous eating habits aid our survival? What makes the Mona Lisa’s smile beautiful? How do women keep our social structures intact? – Could there possibly be a single answer to all these questions? This book shows that the statement: "weak links stabilize complex systems" provides the key to understanding each of these intriguing puzzles, and many others too. The author (recipient of several distinguished science communication prizes) uses weak (low affinity, low probability) interactions as a thread to introduce a vast variety of networks from proteins to economics and ecosystems. Many people, from Nobel Laureates to high-school students have helped to make the book understandable to all interested readers. This unique book and the ideas it develops will have a significant impact on many, seemingly diverse, fields of study. A very personal, engaging, and unique book that will appeal to readers and get them thinking Steve Strogatz An adventurous, entertainingly eclectic and rich work both for experts and laymen László-Albert Barabási This masterpiece should serve as an example of how science can be discussed György Buzsáki Outstanding - I wish more books were written this way Daniel J. Bilar

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 410 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (April 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3540311513
• ISBN-13: 978-3540311515
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,387,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Csermely was born in 1958 in Budapest, Hungary. He is a professor of the Semmelweis University named after the famous Hungarian physician, the "savior of the mothers". His major fields of study are stress, aging and networks (www.linkgroup.hu). In 1995 he launched a highly successful initiative, which provided research opportunities for more than 10,000 gifted high school students (www.nyex.info). In 2006 he established a National Talent Support Council in Hungary, which grew to an EU-wide talent support network (www.TalentDay.eu). (See Csermely's TED lecture on this here: http://youtu.be/3nVtu8LneS0). He wrote and edited 13 books (including the Weak Links at Springer) and published two hundred research papers with a total citation over 5,000. Professor Csermely is the member of the Wise Persons' Council of the Hungarian President, the vice president of the Hungarian Biochemical Society is the past president of Cell Stress Society International, an Ashoka Fellow, was a Fogarty and Howard Hughes Scholar and received several other national and international honors and awards including the 2004 Descartes Award of the European Union for Science Communication.

Peter Csermely started his interest in networks very early. When he was five (!) years old he played with the 'establishment' of the 'Peter Csermely Institute of All Sciences'. Around age 7 to 9 he was interested in history and collected all the castles of medieval Hungary from an Encyclopedia of 17 volumes, 800 pages each. In high school he was the single brokerage contact between the two rival groups of his class. His preference for far-reaching, novel contacts was preserved until today.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Primer on real-life networks with a theme, February 1, 2007

By 

DDDDDDD (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Weak Links: The Universal Key to the Stability of Networks and Complex Systems (The Frontiers Collection) (Hardcover)

If you ever needed another good reason to value your grandmother even more, you'll find the answer in "Weak links".

Structurally, his book starts with an exposition on network theory and

terminology, then the application and discussion of these concepts to

real-life complex systems on many scales and applied to many domains (physical, natural, technological, social). His main point is, as the reviewer noted above, that 'weak' links (weak: additional/removal does not statistically affect the average of some metric) stabilize systems.

The book has thorough footnotes, one can delve as deep as one would like

into the professional papers. In addition, Csermely is an honest scholar - he shows his hands when there is mere speculation (you have to see the book's unique pictograms to appreciate the effects)

After pouring through several alternatives, I have adopted this book as a

textbook for my Science of Networks class (I'm CS fac at an elite US liberal arts school), and I recommend it to anyone without hesitation for a readable, and learned exposition.

I only have two or three caveats from a specialist's point of view: The

phenomenological discovery of power laws in complex systems is not unusual

and may not be evidence of any SF properties. Scale-free is an abused

term, and I wish the controversy about it were explained a bit more. Also, from a modelling point of view, I wish Doyle and Carlson's work on HOT systems were discussed in more depth.

But these are minor points, relatively speaking. This is a gem of a book:

erudite, humane, funny, accessible and thoroughly fascinating. On every

page, there are delights that lead down new intellectual paths.

Csermely did a great service to pedagogy and to this budding science with

this magisterial survey. Outstanding in its ease of access for intelligent

undergraduates and commendable for intellectual honesty - I wish more

books (textbooks and otherwise) were written this way.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Weak Links Stabilize Complex Systems, May 13, 2006

By 

Craig L. Howe "The Pointed Pundit" (Darien, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Weak Links: The Universal Key to the Stability of Networks and Complex Systems (The Frontiers Collection) (Hardcover)

It is an intriguing concept.

Weak links, invisible in many networks, are critical to its stability. In this book, Peter Csermely shows that all networks, from the universe to molecules are governed by the same principles. Regardless of the system -- atoms, cells, companies, web pages or countries -- surprisingly, the weak links stabilize each.

Csermely, a professor at Semmelweis University in Budapest, a former Fogarty Fellow at Harvard University, is a molecular chaperones specialist. In 2003, he became fascinated by the concept of affinity -- a network's stabilizing components of must have weak links to the other components. These weak links act as hubs. Attack the hubs; disrupt the network.

Csermely demonstrates the concept hold true in field after field. The professor begins his study with a discussion of the Granovetter study of a job search and then proceeds to describe network dynamics. By chapter four, the reader is ready to be introduced to the concept of weak links as universal stabilizers. Then, the professor conducts a network tour ranging from macromolecules to the planet earth. Finally he ends with a discussion of weak links, stability landscapes and game theory.

Surprisingly, his book is understandable, even to non-academics. It is loaded with gems that can be applied to the reader's networks and relationships.

This is not a book I would have ever picked up on my own. Thankfully, Professor Csermely sent me an advanced copy. It is a unique book that takes a thorough look at an intriguing concept.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Weak Links, November 29, 2007

By 

G. A. Durant-law "Graham Durant-Law" (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Weak Links: The Universal Key to the Stability of Networks and Complex Systems (The Frontiers Collection) (Hardcover)

I've just finished reading "Weak Links: Stabilizers of Complex Systems from Proteins to Social Networks" by Peter Csermely , who is a Professor of Biochemistry at the Semmelweis University of Budapest. The central theme is weak links are the determinants of system stability and diversity. Csermely defines a link "as 'weak', when its addition or removal does not change the mean value of a target measure at a statistically discernible way" (p. 83).

The book is an interesting read if only because its topic matter ranges from network complexity in physical systems, to biological systems, and finally social and cultural systems. Personally I think there are a few longbows drawn, but in fairness Csermely does clearly indicate where he is engaging in speculation. One fascinating discussion was the discourse on pink noise. Pink noise is also known as coloured noise, flicker noise, crackling noise and Barkhausen noise. Seemingly pink noise is present in systems as diverse as solar flares, traffic flows and group decision making, and has a stabilising or relaxing effect. Quoting several scientific sources he postulates that pink noise helps neural synchronisation, which is partly responsible for memory formation. To put it another way if you want to memorise something have Mozart playing in the background rather than bagpipes, because Mozart's music has pink noise properties!

Csermeley's discussion on immunological networks is also interesting. He says an immune system has to solve four problems:

the self/ non-self recognition problem;

the signal to noise problem;

the context problem; and

the response problem.

Now this is interesting because the later three points define the knowledge retrieval problem of a knowledge management system. Apparently weak links are the immune system's mechanism to solve these problems.

A software package typically consists of several hierarchical and modular components, which are bound by strong links. Taking a lesson from the immune system perhaps we need to build software with lots of weak links, and ensure our people and process dimensions also have many weak links? Perhaps these weak links will allow the percolation of knowledge through the human, process, and technology systems. Perhaps our real problem with knowledge management is we try to over-engineer everything and in so doing build strong links rather than weak links. I'm beginning to think weak links matter.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in networks.

Regards, Graham