HEALING AND HOPE FOR ALL SEASONS
11
pages
English
Documents
Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe Tout savoir sur nos offres
11
pages
English
Documents
Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe Tout savoir sur nos offres
- mémoire
- expression écrite
- r. a. nicholson
- r.a. nicholson
- special blogs for the sabbath
- a.j.arberry
- major theme of rumi
- true gift to human beings
- hope
- god
CHAPTER1
Copyrighted Material
ReinventingDiscovery
TimGowersisnotyourtypicalblogger.AmathematicianatCam-bridgeUniversity,Gowersisarecipientofthehighesthonorinmathematics,theFieldsMedal,oftencalledtheNobelPrizeofmathematics.Hisblogradiatesmathematicalideasandinsight.InJanuary2009,Gowersdecidedtousehisblogtorunaveryunusualsocialexperiment.Hepickedoutanimportantanddifficultunsolvedmathematicalproblem,aproblemhesaidhe’d“lovetosolve.”Butinsteadofattackingtheproblemonhisown,orwithafewclosecolleagues,hedecidedtoattacktheproblemcompletelyintheopen,usinghisblogtopostideasandpartialprogress.What’smore,heissuedanopeninvitationaskingotherpeopletohelpout.Anyonecouldfollowalongand,iftheyhadanidea,explainitinthecommentssectionoftheblog.Gowershopedthatmanymindswouldbemorepowerfulthanone,thattheywouldstimulateeachotherwithdifferentexpertiseandperspectives,andcollectivelymakeeasyworkofhishardmathematicalproblem.HedubbedtheexperimentthePolymathProject.ThePolymathProjectgotofftoaslowstart.SevenhoursafterGowersopeneduphisblogformathematicaldiscussion,notasinglepersonhadcommented.ThenamathematiciannamedJozsefSolymosifromtheUniversityofBritishColumbiapostedacommentsuggestingavariationonGowers’sproblem,avariationwhichwaseasier,butwhichSolymosithoughtmightthrowlightontheoriginalproblem.Fifteenminuteslater,anArizonahighschoolteachernamedJasonDyerchimedinwithathoughtofhisown.Andjustthreeminutesafterthat,UCLAmathematicianTerenceTao—likeGowers,aFieldsmedalist—addedacomment.Thecomments
1
2
Copyrighted Material
CHAPTER1
erupted:overthenext37days,27peoplewrote800mathematicalcomments,containingmorethan170,000words.Readingthroughthecommentsyouseeideasproposed,refined,anddiscarded,allwithincrediblespeed.Youseetopmathematiciansmakingmistakes,goingdownwrongpaths,gettingtheirhandsdirtyfollowingupthemostmundaneofdetails,relentlesslypursuingasolution.Andthroughallthefalsestartsandwrongturns,youseeagradualdawningofinsight.GowersdescribedthePolymathprocessasbeing“tonormalresearchasdrivingistopushingacar.”Just37daysaftertheprojectbeganGowersannouncedthathewasconfidentthepolymathshadsolvednotjusthisoriginalproblem,butaharderproblemthatincludedtheoriginalasaspecialcase.Hedescribeditas“oneofthemostexcitingsixweeksofmymathematicallife.”Months’morecleanupworkremainedtobedone,butthecoremathematicalproblemhadbeensolved.(Ifyou’dliketoknowthedetailsofGowers’sproblem,they’redescribedintheappendix.Ifyoujustwanttogetonwithreadingthisbook,youcansafelyskipthosedetails.)Thepolymathsaren’tstandingstill.SinceGowers’soriginalproject,nearlyadozenPolymathandPolymathlikeprojectshavebeenlaunched,someattackingproblemsevenmoreambitiousthanGowers’soriginalproblem.Morethan100mathematiciansandotherscientistshaveparticipated;masscollaborationisstartingtospreadthroughmathematics.LikethefirstPolymathProject,severaloftheseprojectshavebeengreatsuccesses,reallydrivingourunder-standingofmathematicsforward.Othershavebeenmorequalifiedsuccesses,fallingshortofachievingtheir(sometimesextremelyambitious)goals.Regardless,massivelycollaborativemathematicsisapowerfulnewwayofattackinghardmathematicalproblems.Whyismassonlinecollaborationusefulinsolvingmathematicalproblems?Partoftheansweristhateventhebestmathematicianscanlearnagreatdealfrompeoplewithcomplementaryknowledge,andbestimulatedtoconsiderideasindirectionstheywouldn’thaveconsideredontheirown.Onlinetoolscreateasharedspacewherethiscanhappen,ashorttermcollectiveworkingmemorywhereideascanberapidlyimprovedbymanyminds.Thesetoolsenableustoscaleupcreativeconversation,soconnectionsthatwouldordinarilyrequirefortuitousserendipityinsteadhappenasa
REINVENTINGDISCOVERY
Copyrighted Material
3
matterofcourse.Thisspeedsuptheproblemsolvingprocess,andexpandstherangeofproblemsthatcanbesolvedbythehumanmind.ThePolymathProjectisasmallpartofamuchbiggerstory,astoryabouthowonlinetoolsaretransformingthewayscientistsmakediscoveries.Thesetoolsarecognitivetools,activelyamplifyingourcollectiveintelligence,makingussmarterandsobetterabletosolvethetoughestscientificproblems.Tounderstandwhyallthismatters,thinkbacktotheseventeenthcenturyandtheearlydaysofmodernscience,thetimeofgreatdiscoveriessuchasGalileo’sobservationofthemoonsofJupiter,andNewton’sformulationofhislawsofgravitation.ThegreatestlegacyofGalileo,Newton,andtheircontemporarieswasn’tthoseoneoffbreakthroughs.Itwasthemethodofscientificdiscoveryitself,awayofunderstandinghownatureworks.Atthebeginningoftheseventeenthcenturyextra-ordinarygeniuswasrequiredtomakeeventhetiniestofscientificadvances.Bydevelopingthemethodofscientificdiscovery,earlyscientistsensuredthatbytheendoftheseventeenthcenturysuchscientificadvanceswererunofthemill,thelikelyoutcomeofanycompetentscientificinvestigation.Whatpreviouslyrequiredgeniusbecameroutine,andscienceexploded.Suchimprovementstothewaydiscoveriesaremadearemoreimportantthananysinglediscovery.Theyextendthereachofthehumanmindintonewrealmsofnature.Today,onlinetoolsofferusafreshopportunitytoimprovethewaydiscoveriesaremade,anopportunityonascalenotseensincetheearlydaysofmodernscience.Ibelievethattheprocessofscience—howdiscoveriesaremade—willchangemoreinthenexttwentyyearsthanithasinthepast300years.ThePolymathProjectillustratesjustasingleaspectofthischange,ashiftinhowscientistsworktogethertocreateknowledge.Asecondaspectofthischangeisadramaticexpansioninscientists’abilitytofindmeaninginknowledge.Consider,forexample,thestudiesyouoftenseereportedinthenewssaying“soandsogenescausesuchandsuchadisease.”Whatmakesthesestudiespossibleisageneticmapofhumanbeingsthat’sbeenassembledoverthepasttwentyyears.Thebestknownpartofthatmapisthehumangenome,whichscientistscompletedin2003.Lesswellknown,but
4
Copyrighted Material
CHAPTER1
perhapsevenmoreimportant,istheHapMap(shortforhaplotypemap),completedin2007,whichchartshowandwheredifferenthumanbeingscandifferintheirgeneticcode.Thosegeneticvaria-tionsdeterminemuchaboutourdifferentsusceptibilitiestodisease,andtheHapMapsayswherethosevariationscanoccur—it’sageneticmapnotjustofasinglehumanbeing,butoftheentirehumanrace.Thishumangeneticmapwasthecombinedworkofmany,manybiologistsaroundtheworld.Eachtimetheyobtainedanewchunkofgeneticdataintheirlaboratories,theyuploadedthatdatatocentralizedonlineservicessuchasGenBank,theamazingonlinerepositoryofgeneticinformationrunbytheUSNationalCenterforBiotechnologyInformation.GenBankintegratesallthisgeneticinformationintoasingle,publiclyaccessibleonlinedatabase,acompilationoftheworkofthousandsofbiologists.It’sinformationonascalethat’salmostimpossibletoanalyzebyhand.Fortunately,anyoneintheworldmayfreelydownloadthegeneticmap,andthenusecomputeralgorithmstoanalyzethemap,perhapsdiscoveringpreviouslyunsuspectedfactsaboutthehumangenome.Youcan,ifyoulike,gototheGenBanksiterightnow,andstartbrowsinggeneticinformation.(ForlinkstoGenBankandotherresources,seethe“NotesonSources,”startingonpage347.)Thisis,infact,whatmakesthosestudieslinkinggenestodiseasepossible:thescientistsdoingthestudiesstartbyfindingalargegroupofpeoplewiththedisease,andalsoacontrolgroupofpeoplewithoutthedisease.Theythenusethehumangeneticmaptofindcorrelationsbetweendiseaseincidenceandthegeneticdifferencesofthetwogroups.Asimilarpatternofdiscoveryisbeingusedacrossscience.Scientistsinmanyfieldsarecollaboratingonlinetocreateenormousdatabasesthatmapoutthestructureoftheuniverse,theworld’scli-mate,theworld’soceans,humanlanguages,andevenallthespeciesoflife.Byintegratingtheworkofhundredsorthousandsofscien-tists,wearecollectivelymappingouttheentireworld.Withtheseintegratedmapsanyonecanusecomputeralgorithmstodiscoverconnectionsthatwereneverbeforesuspected.Laterinthebookwe’llseeexamplesrangingfromnewwaysoftrackinginfluenzaoutbreakstothediscoveryoforbitingpairsofsupermassiveblackholes.Weare,piecebypiece,assemblingalltheworld’sknowledgeintoasingle
REINVENTINGDISCOVERY
Copyrighted Material
5
giantedifice.Thatedificeistoovasttobecomprehendedbyanyindividualworkingalone.Butnewcomputerizedtoolscanhelpusfindmeaninghiddeninallthatknowledge.IfthePolymathProjectillustratesashiftinhowscientistscol-laboratetocreateknowledge,andGenBankandthegeneticstudiesillustrateashiftinhowscientistsfindmeaninginknowledge,athirdbigshiftisachangeintherelationshipbetweenscienceandsociety.AnexampleofthisshiftisthewebsiteGalaxyZoo,whichhasrecruitedmorethan200,000onlinevolunteerstohelpastronomersclassifygalaxyimages.Thosevolunteersareshownphotographsofgalaxies,andaskedtoanswerquestionssuchas“Isthisaspiraloranellipticalgalaxy?”and“Ifthisisaspiral,dothearmsrotateclockwiseoranticlockwise?”Thesearephotographsthathavebeentakenautomaticallybyarobotictelescope,andhaveneverbeforebeenseenbyanyhumaneye.YoucanthinkofGalaxyZooasacosmologicalcensus,thelargesteverundertaken,acensusthathassofarproducedmorethan150milliongalaxyclassifications.ThevolunteerastronomerswhoparticipateinGalaxyZooaremakingastonishingdiscoveries.Theyhave,forexample,recentlydiscoveredanentirelynewclassofgalaxy,the“greenpeagalaxies”—sonamedbecausethegalaxiesdo,indeed,looklikesmallgreenpeas—wherestarsareformingfasterthanalmostanywhereelseintheuniverse.They’vealsodiscoveredwhatisbelievedtobethefirsteverexampleofaquasarmirror,anenormouscloudofgastensofthousandsoflightyearsindiameter,whichisglowingbrightlyasthegasisheatedbylightfromanearbyquasar.Injustthreeyears,theworkoftheGalaxyZoovolunteershasresultedin22scientificpapers,andmanymoreareintheworks.GalaxyZooisjustoneofmanyonlinecitizenscienceprojectsthatarerecruitingvolunteers,mostofthemwithoutscientifictrain-ing,tohelpsolvescientificresearchproblems.We’llseeexamplesrangingacrossscience,fromvolunteerswhoareusingcomputergamestopredicttheshapeofproteinmolecules,tovolunteerswhoarehelpingunderstandhowdinosaursevolved.Theseareseriousscientificprojects,projectswherelargegroupsofvolunteerswithlittlescientifictrainingcanattackscientificproblemsbeyondthereachofsmallgroupsofprofessionals.There’snowayateamofprofessionalscoulddowhatGalaxyZoodoes—evenworkingfull
6
Copyrighted Material
CHAPTER1
time,theprosdon’thavethetimetoclassifyhundredsofthousands(ormore)ofgalaxies.Youmightsupposethey’dusecomputerstoclassifythegalaxyimages,butinfactthehumanvolunteersclassifythegalaxiesmoreaccuratelythaneventhebestcomputerprograms.SothevolunteersatprojectssuchasGalaxyZooareexpandingtheboundaryofwhatscientificproblemscanbesolved,andinsodoing,changingbothwhocanbeascientistandwhatitmeanstobeascientist.Howfarcantheboundarybetweenprofessionalandamateurscientistbeblurred?WillweonedayseeNobelPrizeswonbyhugecollaborationsdominatedbyamateurs?Citizenscienceispartofalargershiftintherelationshipbetweenscienceandsociety.GalaxyZooandsimilarprojectsareexamplesofinstitutionsthatarebridgingthescientificcommunityandtherestofsocietyinnewways.We’llseethatonlinetoolsenablemanyothernewbridginginstitutions,includingopenaccesspublishing,whichgivesthepublicdirectaccesstotheresultsofscience,andscienceblogging,whichishelpingcreateamoreopenandmoretransparentscientificcommunity.Whatothernewwayscanwefindtobuildbridgesbetweenscienceandtherestofsociety?Andwhatwillbethelongrunimpactofthesenewbridginginstitutions?Thestorysofarisanoptimisticstoryofpossibility,ofnewtoolsthatarechangingtheworld.Butthere’saproblemwiththisstory,somemajorobstaclesthatpreventscientistsfromtakingfulladvantageofonlinetools.Tounderstandtheobstacles,considerthestudieslinkinggenestodiseasethatwediscussedearlier.There’sacrucialpartofthatstorywhichIglossedover,butwhichisactuallyquitepuzzling:whyisitthatbiologistssharegeneticdatainGenBankinthefirstplace?Whenyouthinkaboutit,it’sapeculiarchoice:ifyou’reaprofessionalbiologistit’stoyouradvantagetokeepdatasecretaslongaspossible.Whyshareyourdataonlinebeforeyougetachancetopublishapaperortakeoutapatentonyourwork?Inthescientificworldit’spapersand,insomefields,patentsthatarerewardedbyjobsandpromotions.Publiclyreleasingdatatypicallydoesnothingforyourcareer,andmightevendamageit,byhelpingyourscientificcompetitors.Inpartforthesereasons,GenBanktookoffslowlyafteritwaslaunchedin1982.Whilemanybiologistswerehappytoaccessothers’datainGenBank,theyhadlittleinterestincontributing
