Doing Science in the Open
Michael Nielsen (TBD)
CSE Distinguished Lecture Series
Thursday, December 8, 2011, 3:30pm
EE105
Abstract
The internet is causing a radical change in how science is done. In this talk Michael Nielsen will describe how mass online collaborations are being used to prove mathematical theorems; how online markets are allowing scientific problems to be outsourced; and how online citizen science projects are enabling amateurs to make scientific discoveries.
These and other projects show how we can use online tools to amplify our collective intelligence, and so extend our scientific problem-solving ability. This promise is only part of the story, however, for today there are many cultural barriers inhibiting scientists from using online tools to their full potential. Dr.
Nielsen will discuss these cultural barriers, and how they can be overcome.
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Bio:
Michael Nielsen is one of the pioneers of quantum computation.
Together with Ike Chuang of MIT, he wrote the standard text on quantum computation. This is the most highly cited physics publication of the last 25 years.
He recently left a position as Senior Faculty Member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics to write a book entitled "Reinventing Discovery." The book describes a major shift now occurring in how scientific discoveries are made, a shift driven by online tools for collaboration and sharing of scientific information.