Duncan J. Watts (1971-) is a professor of sociology at Columbia University, head of the CDG Collective Dynamics Group and author of the book Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age (Norton, 2003). Starting in the fall of 2007 he will join Yahoo! Research, and will lead their research in human social dynamics[2]. He holds a B.Sc in physics from the University of New South Wales, and a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Cornell University. In 1998, in conjunction with Steven Strogatz of Cornell University, Watts formalized the small world phenomenon in the celebrated Nature paper (393:440 - 442). Watts is also affiliated with the Santa Fe Institute.
Academic Inquiry
Duncan Watts is currently 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." [1]
Selected Publications
- D. J. Watts, P. S. Dodds, R. Muhamad, and D. Medina. Multiscale, recurrent epidemics in a hierarchical compartment model, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(32), 11157-11162 (2005)
- D. J. Watts. The “new” science of networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 243-270 (2004).
- P. S. Dodds and D. J. Watts. Universal behavior in a generalized model of contagion. Physical Review Letters, 92(21), 218701 (2004).
- P. S. Dodds, R. Muhamad, and D. J. Watts. An experimental study of search in global social networks. Science, 301, 827-829 (2003).
- D. J. Watts, P. S. Dodds, and M. E. J. Newman. Identity and search in social networks. Science, 296, 1302-1305 (2002).
- D. J. Watts. A simple model of global cascades on random networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 99, 5766-5771 (2002).
- D. J. Watts. Networks, dynamics and the small world phenomenon, American Journal of Sociology, 105(2):493-527 (1999).
- D. J. Watts and S. H. Strogatz. Collective dynamics of 'small-world' networks, Nature, 393:440-442 (1998)
