Don’t believe the petabytes! Against Big Data Empiricism

The data never speak for themselves; and even Big Data doesn’t change that.

“The business of Big Data, which involves collecting large amounts of data and then searching it for patterns and new revelations, is the result of cheap storage, abundant sensors and new software. It has become a multibillion-dollar industry in less than a decade,”

writes Quentin Hardy at NYtimes.com. Big Data is everywhere, even in medicine. Just have a look at Atul Butte‘s presentation at TEDMED2012:

“Who needs the scientific method? Vast stores of available data and outsourced research are simply waiting for the right questions,” claims Atul Butte.

On systems biology and bullshit

Clarity and lucidity are key strengths of scientists and writers. Jargon and cliches can make the best paper unreadable. This is why science writer Carl Zimmer keeps an index of banned words his students should avoid.

One of the words on the index is ‘breakthrough,’ which is overused, because the person reporting it doesn’t bother to think about how big the step forward really is. Using such cliches shows sloppy thinking and lack of scrutiny. This is why Zimmer bans ‘breakthrough‘ “unless you are covering Principia Mathematica”, in which case you are fine, regardless of whether you refer to Whitehead and Russell or Newton.

Not only science writers need to avoid cliches and enrich their texts for content – ‘real’ scientists also often use fancy buzz words with far too much levity. Just think of these three (in no particular order) that you can hear in almost every systems biology talk:

1. Integrated,
2. Network,
3. System.

‘For now failed’ — cheating German ex-minister threatens with comeback

Rapid rise, steepest fall! Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg was German minister of defence until March 2011, when his PhD thesis was proven to be riddled with plagiarism.

Emotions ran high this year in Germany.

So beautiful, it’s almost science

In today’s Guardian I read about a new Turner biography written by James Hamilton.

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) is famous for his energetic land- and seascapes. And what’s more..

..fresh research suggests JMW Turner’s work was also rooted in groundbreaking scientific theories.

Well, sure, why not? It seems Turner had many scientists as friends and it’s not surprising at all that some of the things they have told him may have made it into his paintings.

But now here comes the greatest compliment you can make an artist:

Hamilton said Turner’s sun was more than art – it was almost experimental science.

Wow! Your art is so great, it’s almost science. Almost!

What hubris!

Florian

Duty Calls

A pretty famous comic from xkcd is called ‘Duty Calls’:

1> Are you coming to bed?

2> I can’t. This is important.

1> What?

2> Someone is wrong on the internet!

Who doesn’t know that feeling? Ok, most people, I’d guess. But ‘Duty Calls’ will be my category for all the stuff that I write being upset about something I read on the web.

I guess I will be able to monitor my mental status by how quickly it fills up.

The first example of a Call For Duty is my reaction to an article I recently read in PLoS Biology.

Feyerabend and the tyranny of science

In October 2011 PLoS Biology, a top biology journal, tried something new – it took a deeper look at the boundary between biology and philosophy:

“Does the cultural divide between science and the humanities, first articulated by C. P. Snow over 50 years ago, still exist between biology and philosophy? In a mini experiment to find out, we asked a philosopher and biologist to review the recent English translation of Tyranny of Science, by 20th century philosopher Paul Feyerabend, perhaps best known for rejecting the claim that science is a singular discipline unified by common methods and concepts.”

What a nice idea! The philosopher is Ian J Kidd from Durham in the UK, who does research on Feyerabend and other philosophers of science, while the biologist is Axel Meyer from Konstanz in Germany, who studies diversity in fish. And Feyerabend (1924-1994) is a very good choice, because he is notorious as a polemic writer and not known for holding back his opinions. If there is any divide of any kind anywhere, Feyerabend will be right in the thick of it.