insideBIGDATA Guide to Scientific Research

The rapid evolution of big data technology in the past few years has changed forever the pursuit of scientific exploration and discovery. Along with traditional experiment and theory, computational modeling and simulation is a third paradigm for science. Its value lies in exploring areas of science in which physical experimentation is unfeasible and insights cannot be revealed analytically, such as in climate modeling, seismology and galaxy formation. More recently, big data has been called the “fourth paradigm` of science. Big data can be observed, in a real sense, by computers processing it and often by humans reviewing visualizations created from it. In the past, humans had to reduce the data, often using techniques of statistical sampling, to be able to make sense of it. Now, new big data processing techniques will help us make sense of it without traditional reduction.