The Laws of the Web: Patterns in the Ecology of Information

Huberman, Bernardo A

ISBN 10: 0262083035 / ISBN 13: 9780262083034

Published by MIT Press, 2001

About this Item

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Seller Inventory # mon0000830778

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Laws of the Web: Patterns in the Ecology of Information
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262083035
• ISBN 13: 9780262083034
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

An accessible explanation of the hidden patterns found within the seemingly chaotic World Wide Web.

Despite its haphazard growth, the Web hides powerful underlying regularities--from the organization of its links to the patterns found in its use by millions of users. Many of these regularities have been predicted on the basis of theoretical models based on a field of physics--statistical mechanics--that few would have thought applicable to the social domain.

In this book, Bernardo Huberman explains in accessible language the laws of the Web. One of the foremost researchers in the field, Huberman has established, for example, that the surfing patterns of individuals are describable by a precise law. Such findings can lead to more efficient Web design and use. They also shed light on social mechanisms whose significance goes beyond the Web. In this sense, the Web is a gigantic informational ecosystem that can be used to quantify and test explanations of human behavior and social interaction.

About the Author

Bernardo A. Huberman is an HP Fellow at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Palo Alto, California.