computer science

Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age

Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age rather than just read about it. In short: Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age (2004 in paperback, ISBN 0-393-32542-3 and 2003 in hardcover, ISBN 0-393-04142-5) is a popular science book by Duncan J. Watts covering the application of network theory to sociology.

Key takeaways

Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age (2004 in paperback, ISBN 0-393-32542-3 and 2003 in hardcover, ISBN 0-393-04142-5) is a popular science book by Duncan J. Watts covering the application of network theory to sociology. The book covers Watts' own work on small-world networks, and continues on to cover scale-free networks, network searching, epidemics and network failures, social decision-making, thresholds in networks, and innovation in large organizations and its lack. In addition to covering the theoretical models and empirical case studies, the book also includes several stories about the character of the researchers who developed this science and their relationships with each other. The case studies used include blackouts in the North American electricity distribution network, the relationships among members of corporate boards of directors, the distribution of wealth in societies, peer-to-peer file-sharing systems, computer viruses, economic bubbles, and the 1997 Aisin fire crisis at Toyota.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age

In research: Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2003 non-fiction books, Networks, Science book stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age in simple terms?

Why does Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age.