Networked Life

Mung Chiang is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University and Director of the Princeton EDGE Lab. He has received the IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award and a US Presidential Award for Scientists and Engineers, for his research on networking. A co-founder and advisor to several startups, he also received a Technology Review TR35 Award for his contributions to network technology innovation and is a Fellow of the IEEE.

'How do the networks, which we increasingly rely upon in our everyday life, actually work? This book is an inspiring romp through the big ideas in networking, which is immediately rewarding and will motivate later courses.' Frank Kelly, Professor of the Mathematics of Systems and Master of Christ's College, University of Cambridge

• 1. What makes CDMA work for my cell phone?; 2. How does Google sell ad space?; 3. How does Google rank webpages?; 4. How does Netflix recommend movies?; 5. When can I trust product ratings on Amazon?; 6. Why does Wikipedia even work?; 7. How do I viralize a YouTube video and tip a Groupon deal?; 8. How do I influence people on Facebook and Twitter?; 9. Can I really reach anyone in 6 steps?; 10. Does the Internet have an Achilles' heel?; 11. Why do AT&T and Verizon Wireless charge me $10 a GB?; 12. How can I pay less for my internet connection?; 13. How does traffic get through the internet?; 14. Why doesn't the internet collapse under congestion?; 15. How can Skype and BitTorrent be free?; 16. What's inside the cloud of iCloud?; 17. Netflix, iTunes, IPTV: which way to watch video?; 18. Why is WiFi faster at home than at a hotspot?; 19. Why am I only getting a few percent of advertised 4G speed?; 20. Is it fair that my neighbour's iPhone downloads faster?