I wrote this essay using MediaWiki (formerly at the address http://stargrads.net/wiki) as a proof-of-concept to see if I can write an essay or a paper online. Since I’m removing MediaWiki from this web site, I have copied its contents below… » [Expand post] [Permalink]
Archive for the 'open notebook science' Category
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For my Ph.D. research, I had set up the Wikindx bibliography management system for use on my laptop to keep track of the papers that I had read or come across. Furthermore, I use it to store local copies of frequently accessed papers by attaching them as PDF files.
Because I’m using Jarnal to annotate these papers, I wanted to integrate the ability to launch Jarnal into Wikindx itself, and also to store the annotations in Wikindx along with the attached documents.
I wrote the Annotate With Jarnal plug-in module for Wikindx initially for my private use, so it’s not very polished. But it gets the job done… » [Expand post] [Permalink]
When I switched into quantum computing for my Ph.D. topic, one of the the first research questions that my (former) supervisor, Dr. Richard Cleve, had asked me was whether the adversary method for quantum lower bounds applied in the Hamiltonian oracle model.
The answer is “yes”… » [Expand post] [Permalink]
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I have written an essay advocating the adoption of open notebook science by the computer science community. The essay is self-referential in that it discusses the process of collaboratively writing papers online, and is itself written using MediaWiki, the software behind Wikipedia. I invite suggestions and comments on the discussion page for the essay.
I have tried to keep the essay as impersonal as possible. The benefits given in the essay of keeping an open notebook apply to any scientist, but I especially have some very personal reasons, if not for advocating the practice, then at least for engaging in it myself… » [Expand post] [Permalink]
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Being editor-in-chief of my high school’s literary magazine allowed me to get away at home with writing a lot more than was actually published in it. At that time, other than fiction, I wrote mostly about science and technology, and especially about their effects on culture. I hadn’t really analysed why at the time, but in retrospect what must have been my subconscious motivations have become a little bit more clear to me.
I am a member of the first generation in which the masses have easy access to the tools for creating mass media. When you think about it, it’s incredible how much has changed even in just one decade. At that time, if you wanted to disseminate your message on a shoestring budget, you’d type or print your pamphlet, bring it to the printshop or photocopier, make however many copies, and physically distribute them. (And if your audience was really illiterate, you’d speak into a cassette recorder and give out copies of the tape.) People with kooky or dangerous ideas were thus limited in the reach of their message or the amount of damage they could do.
But with the advent of the mass popularisation of the Internet, the dynamics have suddenly changed. Now anyone can easily broadcast any message whatsoever and have the potential to reach the entire world… » [Expand post] [Permalink]
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There are already plenty of open notebook and collaborative science initiatives out there, so why roll my own website?
To begin with, I didn’t find any ready-made projects which exactly suited my needs. The most impressive, and the one which came the closest to what I was looking for, is OpenWetWare, but its focus is on biology and biological engineering. Chemists have also gotten into the act with UsefulChem, which is hosted on wikispaces.
I did not locate any project of a similar scope or scale for physics or, perhaps ironically, computer science… » [Expand post] [Permalink]
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Science is one of the noblest and most sublime of human endeavours, transcending the distinctions of nationality, language, culture, race, gender, religion, political affiliation, or any number of other ways in which we human beings categorise ourselves. Science is universal. While not everyone has access to particle accelerators or other instruments of science, anyone can aspire to increase human knowledge and better our understanding of the world within his or her own means.
This blog and this website are my contributions to the open notebook science movement. I strongly believe that modern communication technologies will dramatically change (and in fact have already been dramatically changing) the way science is done and disseminated. Many more people have access to scientific information than ever before, and at the same time, science policy at the highest levels of government have the potential to affect the lives of everyone in the world. Science is no longer the enterprise of an elite few, but the common heritage and responsibility of every person on the planet — and we can no longer afford for it not to be open.
– davinci