Name: Networks, crowds, and markets
ISBN: 9780521195331

Networks, crowds, and markets

Over the past decade there has been a growing public fascination with the complex connectedness of modern society. This connectedness is found in many incarnations: in the rapid growth of the Internet, in the ease with which global communication takes place, and in the ability of news and information as well as epidemics and financial crises to spread with surprising speed and intensity. These are phenomena that involve networks, incentives, and the aggregate behavior of groups of people; they are based on the links that connect us and the ways in which our decisions can have subtle consequences for others. This introductory undergraduate textbook takes an interdisciplinary look at economics, sociology, computing and information science, and applied mathematics to understand networks and behavior. It describes the emerging field of study that is growing at the interface of these areas, addressing fundamental questions about how the social, economic, and technological worlds are connected.

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Sebb767Sep 2020

> they can still decide against a well-reasoned argument.

Suer, but then you did what you could. I think the main point here is 'do your best instead of giving up prematurely', not 'slam your head against the wall until the wall gives in' ;)

> There is lots of interesting game theory (which is probably a digression here), but the Prisoner's Dilemma is a fun starting point if anyone is interested in an academic side trip: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/prisoner-dilemma/.

Game theory is highly interesting. There is also the book "Networks, Crowds and Markets", which is free to read online [0] and well worth a read. I've actually had an university course about it.

[0] https://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-book/netwo...

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IrishsteveJun 2019

Give networks crowds and markets a glance. It's a fun book. https://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-book/netwo...

But thats from Kleinberg - the person who I was referring to :-)

After that there is personalised page rank / Salsa which are probably the more widely known approaches to identifying trust worthy nodes in a graph.

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indescions_2018Jan 2018

Hmmm. "Vietnam -- US Relations: 1945-1968" seems to be missing from this list ;)

I love Space Technology textbooks from the 1960s. Largely because the physics and math of orbital mechanics can still be provided for good simulations.

Not sure if the same holds true for Game Theory apart from historical interest.

For a better introduction see Networks, Crowds and Markets:

https://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-book/

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aethertapFeb 2015

I am doing this too, with Macdonald's "Linear and Geometric Algebra" and "Vector and Geometric Calculus" along with "Networks, Crowds, and Markets" and "Chaos and Nonlinear Dynamics." It's slow going, but very enjoyable.

The most interesting side effect I've noticed from doing this is a dramatic improvement in my ability to focus. I had been suffering from a general scatterbrained, distracted feeling for a while before I started. I think it was due to the way I consume content online, trying to follow too many interests at once. I set aside about an hour a night to work on these math courses and within a couple of weeks I noticed that my focus was greatly improved. For that reason alone I'm counting this project as a major win, regardless of whether I master these topics or not. Having something to study seems to be extremely valuable for general mental health, at least for me.

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mysterywhiteboyAug 2012

I would add near the top of your list the awesome (and free[1]) book by David Easley and Jon Kleinberg that accompanies their Cornell undergraduate course:

Networks, Crowds, and Markets: Reasoning About a Highly Connected World.

[1] http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-book/

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showerstJul 2011

If you're interested in this, I highly recommend the book Networks, Crowds, and Markets [1]. It's an awesome (undergrad-level) introduction to graph theory, and has a ton of practical information on how it applies to modelling networks of people, as well as economic things like auctions and (game-theory) games. Since it's a textbook, it also has full exercises and advanced materials.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Networks-Crowds-Markets-Reasoning-Conn...

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