Tony Hey

This is a very ambitious book, in that it aims to make everyman familiar with the general principles of quantum physics without delving into complex mathematics on which quantum physics is based.
So, the problem is how to simplify the subject matter in such a way that it still holds credibility and not receive scorn from the scientific community.

However, in order to bring quantum physics out of the shadows and into the light, where it deserves to be seen; I think that a book such as this is not only necessary, but should be applauded.

Quantum mechanics has already changed the face of our society further than any other branch of science in the history of the world; the fact that most people are unaware of how this is so bears witness to the fact that something is very wrong with the way it is understood by the large majority of people.

This book is a step in the right direction.… (mere)

“We have to do better producing tools to support the whole research cycle – from data capture and data curation to data analysis and data visualization.” - Jim Gray

The Fourth Paradigm is a collection of papers talks on research areas that aim to improve the research cycle. The talks are a memorial to Microsoft Tech Fellow Jim Gray. Gray had the insight that science has gone through four paradigms so far. The first paradigm, which has lasted over the last few thousand years, was empirical science which describes natural phenomena. Over the last few hindered years, the second paradigm of theoretical science using models and generalizations has occurred. Within the last 50 to 70 years, the third paradigm of computational science has developed to simulate complex phenomena. Finally, the fourth paradigm (also known as eScience) has developed to unify theory, experiment, and simulation. Jim Gray says:“… it is worth distinguishing data-intensive science from computational science as a new, fourth paradigm for scientific exploration.”

The book itself is divided into four major sections: Earth and Environment, Health and Wellbeing, Scientific Infrastructure, and Scholarly Communications with 6 to 8 papers per section. The emphasis here is on science; however, I’d assert that all these areas directly impact engineering as well. For example, the flight test of a new product involves an enormous amount of data, which produces much analysis, knowledge, and understanding. The principle idea of eScience (and eEngineering) is that the data and analysis interoperate with each other, such that information is at your fingertips for everyone, everywhere. The payoff is a large increase in information velocity and productivity. In the end, an analysis or report will be an overlay on the data. I have seen this start to happen, and agree with Jim Gray that our current tools are very primitive – a lot of new tools are going to be required.

A paper that I found particularly interesting was “Discovering the Wiring of the Brain” Their summary is: “Decoding the complete connectome of the human brain is one of the great challenges of the 21st century.” I agree – and discovering the scientific and engineering applications that will emerge will be even more of a challenge. This is an area that requires an entire new way to handle all the data – consider that a snapshot 1 cubic mm of image data from a human brain contains a petabyte of data, and that a human brain contains about one million cubic mm.

This fascinating book is availed for free download at the Microsoft Research website at http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/collaboration/fourthparadigm/ I think any working scientist or engineer will find much to learn and think about in this collection of papers on the emerging Fourth Paradigm and the world of eScience (and eEnginnering)… (mere)