Dots and Lines - Anthony Bonato ***

Networks are of huge significance to life and technology, so it was refreshing to read a popular maths title on the subject. I was a little concerned when, in the introductory chapter, Anthony Bonato spent quite a while discussing network/graph theory jargon - we really don't need to know that a network is referred to as G with nodes represented by V and edges by E, let alone the meaning of 'heavy tailed'. There is absolutely no need to have such technical-speak in a popular title. Unfortunately, he goes bombarding us with terminology in further chapters: it can be painful, especially when we are told a directed graph is known as a digraph, when I suspect most people outside of the graph theory community would consider a digraph a two letter phoneme.

Despite the relentless terminology we do learn a lot about networks and their applications, from Google's PageRank to Bacon numbers and from COVID infections to optimising security camera placement. As a writer, I was interested in the examination of character networks in books, though I would have liked to have seen a justification for linking characters if (and only if) their names appeared '15 words or less apart' in the text - it seems an arbitrary decision which should be justified.

The writing style was sometimes a touch saccharin. For example, on the night of the 2016 US election we are told that Bonato and a colleague 'stopped by a campus café, where I savoured a peppermint tea and a vegan cookie, reclining in a comfy chair.' Apart from confirming stereotypes about academics, this kind of thing really adds very little to the narrative that's of interest to the reader.

This is a difficult book to rate, neither fish nor fowl - it's a bit too technical for the general reader, but vague in its description of models and algorithms for someone with a mathematical or computing background. So, for example, we are told that the Louvain algorithm is one of the best for finding communities in networks. Apparently it uses the 'technical notion of modularity', but a detailed discussion of modularity is 'beyond our scope here', so we just get a vague sentence on what it does. In terms of discovering the range of potential applications of networks/graph theory, it's solidly four star, but I can't give it that as a satisfying popular maths title.

Hardback:

Kindle:
Using these links earns us commission at no cost to you
These articles will always be free - but if you'd like to support our online work, consider buying a virtual coffee or taking out a membership:
Review by Brian Clegg - See all reviews and Brian's online articles or subscribe free here

Comments

God: the Science, the Evidence - Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies ***

This is, to say the least, an oddity, but a fascinating one. A translation of a French bestseller, it aims to put forward an examination of the scientific evidence for the existence of a deity… and various other things, as this is a very oddly structured book (more on that in a moment). In The God Delusion , Richard Dawkins suggested that we should treat the existence of God as a scientific claim, which is exactly what the authors do reasonably well in the main part of the book. They argue that three pieces of scientific evidence in particular are supportive of the existence of a (generic) creator of the universe. These are that the universe had a beginning, the fine tuning of natural constants and the unlikeliness of life. To support their evidence, Bolloré and Bonnassies give a reasonable introduction to thermodynamics and cosmology. They suggest that the expected heat death of the universe implies a beginning (for good thermodynamic reasons), and rightly give the impression tha...

Humble Pi - Matt Parker ****

Matt Parker had me thoroughly enjoying this collection of situations where maths and numbers go wrong in everyday life. I think the book's title is a little weak - 'Humble Pi' doesn't really convey what it's about, but that subtitle 'a comedy of maths errors' is far more informative. With his delightful conversational style, honed in his stand-up maths shows, it feels as if Parker is a friend down the pub, relating the story of some technical disaster driven by maths and computing, or regaling us with a numerical cock-up. These range from the spectacular - wobbling and collapsing bridges, for example - to the small but beautifully formed, such as Excel's rounding errors. Sometimes it's Parker's little asides that are particularly attractive. I loved his rant on why phone numbers aren't numbers at all (would it be meaningful for someone to ask you what half your phone number is?). We discover the trials and tribulations of getting cal...

Quantum 2.0 - Paul Davies ****

Unlike the general theory of relativity or cosmology, quantum physics is an aspect of physics that has had a huge impact on everyday lives, particularly through the deployment of electronics, but also, for example, where superconductivity has led to practical applications. But when Paul Davies is talking about version 2.0, he is specifically describing quantum information, where quantum particles and systems are used in information technology. This obviously includes quantum computers, but Davies also brings in, for example, the potential for quantum AI technology. Quantum computers have been discussed for decades - algorithms had already been written for them as early as the 1990s - but it's only now that they are starting to become usable devices, not at the personal level but in servers. In his usual approachable style, Davies gives us four chapters bringing us up to speed on quantum basics, but then brings in quantum computing. After this we don't get solid quantum informat...

Search This Blog