Chapter One: The Three Rules of Epidemics Summary and Analysis

The opening chapter of the book renames the three rules of epidemics in the author's own, unique language. He calls them the law of few, the stickiness factor and the power of context.

Gladwell uses an outbreak of syphilis in Baltimore, Maryland to illustrate the three rules in detail. He points out that an idea can tip from any of several directions. In each situation, though, any one rule may carry more weight than the others may.

Outbreaks of disease often draw attention by the number of people infected, and experts strive to reduce the number. Gladwell points out, though, that a few connected people serve to spread the disease. A well-known saying states that twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work. Gladwell proposes that...