Michael Nielsen has an interesting essay on the future of science on his blog. Nielsen examines the advantages of online tools in scientific collaboration and also identifies critical issues on why the tools have not worked wonders till now: (more…)
Archive for January, 2009
The Future of Science
Friday, January 30th, 2009RAE 2008: A look at theoretical computer science
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009This is a follow-up to the earlier entry on the recently held RAE. I was interested in the assessment of the state of research in my field, namely theoretical computer science and discrete mathematics.
These two areas are broadly covered in the Panel Section. Theoretical computer science was covered both in the ‘Computer Science and Information’ report and the ‘Pure Mathematics section’. One particularly positive point was that the research area of algorithms and complexity got a special mention and some positive feedback: (more…)
Research: role of problem solving
Friday, January 23rd, 2009Physicist Michael Nielsen has some good advice on problem solving in research. The following is his insight on the skills of a problem solving approach to research:
- Clarity, goals, and forward momentum: Nielsen mentions that being clear about one’s goal and continuing to work towards it is critical. (more…)
Research: role of problem creating
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009Physicist Michael Nielsen has an interesting insight into the creative process in research. He divides the creative process into two roles: problem solving and problem creating.
He explains that the problem solver tries to solve well-posed, well-known difficult problems and formulate methods to solve them without worrying too much about the ‘big picture’. On the other hand, problem creators ask new questions, identify important problems, build links or try to provide a different perspective. (more…)
