An accessible illustrated introducton to the networks we use every day, from Facebook and Google to WiFi and the Internet

What makes WiFi faster at home than at a coffee shop? How does Google order search results? Is it really true that everyone on Facebook is connected by six steps or less? The Power of Networks answers questions like these for the first time in a way that all of us can understand. Using simple language, analogies, stories, hundreds of illustrations, and no more math than simple addition and multiplication, Christopher Brinton and Mung Chiang provide a smart and accessible introduction to the handful of big ideas that drive the computer networks we use every day. The Power of Networks unifies these ideas through six fundamental principles of networking. These principles explain the difficulties in sharing network resources efficiently, how crowds can be wise or not so wise depending on the nature of their connections, why there are many layers in a network, and more. Along the way, the authors also talk with and share the special insights of renowned experts such as Google's Eric Schmidt, former Verizon Wireless CEO Dennis Strigl, and "fathers of the Internet" Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn.

About the Author
Christopher G. Brinton is the Head of Advanced Research at Zoomi Inc. and lecturer in electrical engineering at Princeton University. Mung Chiang is the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering at Purdue University and the recipient of the 2013 National Science Foundation Waterman Award.

Reviews

Networks have played a powerful connective role in human societies since the dawn of agriculture. Brinton and Chiang document and analyze this phenomenon-and reinforce our appreciation of it.
-Vint Cerf, Internet pioneer

Christopher Brinton and Mung Chiang offer an open and accessible pathway through the complexity of network design and deployment . . . a readily understood, yet commendably deep, analysis of the technology and its operation. . . . To describe this book as a course in digital citizenship would not be to overstate its importance.
-John Gilbey, Times Higher Education

Christopher Brinton and Mung Chiang both have backgrounds in electrical engineering, which combined with experience of topics like big data analytics allows them to strike an authoritative but accessible tone.
-Dominic Lenton, Engineering and Technology

The Power of Networks is a well-written and engaging book that I think many readers will find interesting and insightful.
-Jason M. Graham, MAA Reviews

Book Information
ISBN 9780691183305
Author Christopher G. Brinton
Format Paperback
Page Count 328
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publisher Princeton University Press