What kind of mathematical tools can one use to describe, understand and analyse a network that we do not even know the exact structure of? Think of the Internet, the human brain or the network of relationships between humans. Is it possible to model a network of this enormity with a much smaller one, or to one similar by means of a simple randomised procedure? Or is it more practical to imagine such a large network as a constant medium, in the same way we take a macroscopic view of materials built from atoms?

All rights reserved