Networks are everywhere - wherever people and things relate and connect to one another: from social networks and the internet, to ancient mazes, secret codes, and even the genetic structure of life itself. The author explains how mathematics can give us rich and surprising insights into the workings of networks of all types. Circular Sudoku and the 'Chinese Postman Problem' (can he deliver all his letters without traversing the same street twice?) are just some of the fascinating and classic mathematical puzzles that are explored here. The authors uses a minimum of technical language - the mathematics emerges naturally and accessibly through the examples used. What do road and railway systems, electrical circuits, mingling at parties, mazes, family trees, and the internet all have in common? All are networks - either people or places or things that relate and connect to one another. Only relatively recently have mathematicians begun to explore such networks and connections, and their importance has taken everyone by surprise. The mathematics of networks form the basis of many fascinating puzzles and problems, from tic-tac-toe and circular sudoku to the 'Chinese Postman Problem' (can he deliver all his letters without traversing the same street twice?). Peter Higgins shows how such puzzles as well as many real-world phenomena are underpinned by the same deep mathematical structure. Understanding mathematical networks can give us remarkable new insights into them all. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting