The Art of Data Science

Abstract

To flourish in the new data-intensive environment of twenty-first century science, we need to evolve new skills. These can be expressed in terms of the systemized framework that formed the basis of mediaeval education—the trivium (logic, grammar and rhetoric) and quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy). However, rather than focusing on number, data are the new keystone. We need to understand what rules they obey, how they are symbolized and communicated, and what their relationship is to physical space and time. In this paper, we will review this understanding in terms of the technologies and processes that data require. We contend that, at least, an appreciation of all these aspects is crucial to enabling us to extract scientific information and knowledge from the data sets that threaten to engulf and overwhelm us.