Duncan J. Watts

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Duncan J. Watts
Nationality	Australian
Fields	Physics Sociology Complex systems
Institutions	Columbia University Yahoo! Research Santa Fe Institute
Alma mater	University of New South Wales Cornell University

Duncan J. Watts (born 1971) is an Australian professor of sociology at Columbia University, where he heads the Collective Dynamics Group^[1], and an external faculty member of the Santa Fe Institute. He is also a principal research scientist at Yahoo! Research, where he directs the Human Social Dynamics group. He is author of the book Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age^[2].

Contents 1 Life and work 2 See also 3 Bibliography 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Life and work

Duncan Watts was born in 1971. He received a B.Sc. in physics from the University of New South Wales and a Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics from Cornell University. He describes his research as exploring the "role that network structure plays in determining or constraining system behavior, focusing on a few broad problem areas in social science such as information contagion, financial risk management, and organizational design."^[3] Among his many published works he is particularly known for his 1998 paper with Steven Strogatz in which the two presented a mathematical theory of the small world phenomenon^[4]. More recently he has attracted attention for his modern-day replication of Stanley Milgram's small world experiment using email messages and for his studies of popularity and fads in on-line and other communities.

[edit] See also

• Complex network
• Social network
• Small-world network
• Small world experiment
• Clustering coefficient
• Steven Strogatz
• Watts and Strogatz model

[edit] Bibliography

Selected works:

• Watts, D.J.; Strogatz, S.H. (1998). "Collective dynamics of 'small-world' networks.". Nature 393 (6684): 409–10. doi:10.1038/30918. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=9623998&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google. 
• Watts, D.J. (1999). "Networks, Dynamics, and the Small-World Phenomenon". AJS 105 (2): 493–527. doi:10.1086/210318. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/resolve?AJSv105p493PDF. 
• Watts, Duncan; Dodds, Peter; Newman, M. E. .J. (2002). "Identity and Search in Social Networks". Science 296 (5571): 1302–1305. doi:10.1126/science.1070120. PMID 12016312. 
• Watts, Duncan (2002). "A simple model of global cascades on random networks". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99 (9): 5766–5771. doi:10.1073/pnas.082090499. PMID 16578874. 
• Dodds, Peter; Muhamad, Roby; Watts, Duncan (2003). "An Experimental Study of Search in Global Social Networks". Science 301 (5634): 827–829. doi:10.1126/science.1081058. PMID 12907800. 
• Watts, D.J. (2004). "The New science of networks". Annual review of sociology 30: 243–270. http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16005763. 
• Dodds, P.S.; Watts, D.J. (2004). "Universal Behavior in a Generalized Model of Contagion". Physical Review Letters 92 (21): 218701. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.218701. 
• Watts, D.J.; Muhamad, R.; Medina, D.C.; Dodds, P.S. (2005). "Multiscale, resurgent epidemics in a hierarchical metapopulation model". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102 (32): 11157–11162. doi:10.1073/pnas.0501226102. PMID 16055564. http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0501226102v1.pdf. 

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Clive Thompson (2008-02). "Is the Tipping Point Toast?". Fast Company. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/is-the-tipping-point-toast.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-25. 
• Six Degrees: The Science of the Connected Age. Retrieved on 2008-07-29.