Nature & Nurture #43: Dr. Nicholas Christakis - Network Science & Public Health

Dr. Nicholas Christakis is a physician, sociologist, network scientist, and Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science, Internal Medicine & Biomedical Engineering at Yale University. He is also the author of numerous books including Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society, and Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live. 

In this episode we discuss Dr. Christakis' background in medicine, and his transition into network science: the study of social networks, how they form, change, and interact to shape our behavior. We discuss how network science can be understood both from an evolutionary perspective, as in Blueprint, and in public health, as in Apollo's Arrow. Pandemics are nothing new to humans, and Dr. Christakis argues that we can learn from our evolutionary and historical past in facing COVID-19 and other potential pandemics, and respond to them better than ever if we put such knowledge and our technological advancements to good use.