This groundbreaking, open access volume analyses and compares data practices across several fields through the analysis of specific cases of data journeys. It brings together leading scholars in the philosophy, history and social studies of science to achieve two goals: tracking the travel of data across different spaces, times and domains of research practice; and documenting how such journeys affect the use of data as evidence and the knowledge being produced. The volume captures the opportunities, challenges and concerns involved in making data move from the sites in which they are originally produced to sites where they can be integrated with other data, analysed and re-used for a variety of purposes. The in-depth study of data journeys provides the necessary ground to examine disciplinary, geographical and historical differences and similarities in data management, processing and interpretation, thus identifying the key conditions of possibility for the widespread data sharing associated with Big and Open Data. The chapters are ordered in sections that broadly correspond to different stages of the journeys of data, from their generation to the legitimisation of their use for specific purposes. Additionally, the preface to the volume provides a variety of alternative “roadmaps” aimed to serve the different interests and entry points of readers; and the introduction provides a substantive overview of what data journeys can teach about the methods and epistemology of research.

This groundbreaking, open access volume analyses and compares data practices across several fields through the analysis of specific cases of data journeys. It brings together leading scholars in the philosophy, history and social studies of science to achieve two goals: tracking the travel of data across different spaces, times and domains of research practice; and documenting how such journeys affect the use of data as evidence and the knowledge being produced. The volume captures the opportunities, challenges and concerns involved in making data move from the sites in which they are originally produced to sites where they can be integrated with other data, analysed and re-used for a variety of purposes. The in-depth study of data journeys provides the necessary ground to examine disciplinary, geographical and historical differences and similarities in data management, processing and interpretation, thus identifying the key conditions of possibility for the widespread data sharing associated with Big and Open Data. The chapters are ordered in sections that broadly correspond to different stages of the journeys of data, from their generation to the legitimisation of their use for specific purposes. Additionally, the preface to the volume provides a variety of alternative “roadmaps” aimed to serve the different interests and entry points of readers; and the introduction provides a substantive overview of what data journeys can teach about the methods and epistemology of research.

In recent decades, there has been a major shift in the way researchers process and understand scientific data. Digital access to data has revolutionized ways of doing science in the biological and biomedical fields, leading to a data-intensive approach to research that uses innovative methods to produce, store, distribute, and interpret huge amounts of data. In Data-Centric Biology, Sabina Leonelli probes the implications of these advancements and confronts the questions they pose. Are we witnessing the rise of an entirely new scientific epistemology? If so, how does that alter the way we study and understand life—including ourselves? Leonelli is the first scholar to use a study of contemporary data-intensive science to provide a philosophical analysis of the epistemology of data. In analyzing the rise, internal dynamics, and potential impact of data-centric biology, she draws on scholarship across diverse fields of science and the humanities—as well as her own original empirical material—to pinpoint the conditions under which digitally available data can further our understanding of life. Bridging the divide between historians, sociologists, and philosophers of science, Data-Centric Biology offers a nuanced account of an issue that is of fundamental importance to our understanding of contemporary scientific practices.

Journeys in Science: Inspiring the Next Generation examines the STEM education pipeline and discusses important strategies on working through the various challenges that STEM trainees face. The book takes a look at career possibilities for scientists in the broadest sense, and is not solely limited to academia. Coverage includes individual and local concepts, as well as a discussion on how STEM education impacts trainee communities across the globe. The book also focuses on diversity in STEM and offers valuable insights based on the authors’ own experiences. Offers advice for those in the STEM pipeline at all stages of training Contains global perspectives on trainees in STEM Includes personal vignettes, also utilizing primary research literature and data

Data and Society: A Critical Introduction investigates the growing importance of data as a technological, social, economic and scientific resource. It explains how data practices have come to underpin all aspects of human life and explores what this means for those directly involved in handling data. The book fosters informed debate over the role of data in contemporary society explains the significance of data as evidence beyond the "Big Data" hype spans the technical, sociological, philosophical and ethical dimensions of data provides guidance on how to use data responsibly includes data stories that provide concrete cases and discussion questions. Grounded in examples spanning genetics, sport and digital innovation, this book fosters insight into the deep interrelations between technical, social and ethical aspects of data work.

This collection of essays traces a scientific journey bookmarked by remarkable mentors and milestones of science. It provides fascinating reading for everyone interested in the history, public appreciation, and value of science, as well as giving first-hand accounts of many key events and prominent figures. The author was one of the “sputnik kids” growing up in the US at the start of the space age. He built a working laser just two years after they were first invented, an experience that convinced him to become a physicist. During his 50-year career in physics, many personalities and notable events in science and technology helped to form his view of how science contributes to the modern world​, including his conviction that the impact of science can be most effective when introduced within the context of the humanities - especially history, literature and the arts. From the Foreword by former U.S. Congressman, Rush D. Holt: In this volume, we have the wide-ranging thoughts and observations of Fred Dylla, an accomplished physicist with an engineer’s fascination for gadgets, a historian’s long perspective, an artist’s aesthetic eye, and a teacher’s passion for sharing ideas. Throughout his varied career [...] his curiosity has been his foremost characteristic and his ability to see the connection between apparently disparate things his greatest skill. [...] Here he examines the roots and growth of innovation in examples from Bell Laboratories, Edison Electric Light Company, and cubist painter Georges Braque. He considers the essential place of publishing in science, that epochal intellectual technique for learning how the world works. He shows the human enrichment and practical benefits that derive from wise investments in scientific research, as well as the waste resulting from a failure to embrace appropriate technologies.