Peter Csermely (50) is a professor at the Semmelweis University in Budapest. A former Fogarty Fellow at Harvard University, his main fields of study are molecular chaperones and networks. In 1996 Dr. Csermely launched a highly successful initiative providing research opportunities for more than 10,000 gifted high school students. He also established the Hungarian National Talent Support Council and the Network of Youth Excellence, [...] promoting similar activities in 33 countries. He has published 11 books and more than 200 research papers. Dr. Csermely holds several distinguished appointments including membership of the Wise Persons' Council of the Hungarian President, vice-president of the Hungarian Biochemical Society and has been recipient of numerous international fellowships and awards, for example the 2003 Science Communication Award of the European Molecular Biology Organization and the 2004 Descartes Award of the European Union for Science Communication.

How can our societies be stabilized in a crisis? Why can we enjoy and understand Shakespeare? Why are fruitflies uniform? What makes the Mona Lisa's smile beautiful? - Is there any answer to these questions? This book shows that the statement: "weak links stabilize complex systems" holds the key to understanding all of the intriguing puzzles above. The distinguished author uses weak links as a thread to introduce a vast variety of networks from proteins to ecosystems. This unique book and the ideas it develops will have a significant impact on many, seemingly diverse, fields of study.

A Principle is Born: The Granovetter Study.- Why Do We Like Networks?.- Network Stability.- Weak Links as Stabilizers of Complex Systems.- Atoms, Molecules and Macromolecules.- Weak Links and Cellular Stability.- Weak Links and the Stability of Organisms.- Social Nets.- Networks of Human Culture.- The Global Web.- The Ecoweb.- Conclusions and Perspectives.