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Essay
Nature 447, 39 (3 May 2007) | doi:10.1038/447039a; Published online 2 May 2007
Connections The best is yet to come
Mark Buchanan1
- Mark Buchanan is a science writer based in the United Kingdom.
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Abstract
Optimality is a key organizing principle of science, but the patterns of connections within real-world networks do not always respect it.
An 'optimal' solution to a problem is, in some sense, the 'best' solution. It's the shortest route to work, or the way of packing oranges that takes up the least volume.
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