PRESS RELEASE - 7 October 1702

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Noble Prize in Physics for 1702 to

Isaac Newton
Cambridge University, Cambridge,
United Kingdom

“for the invention of a mathematical foundation in natural philosophy which led to the discovery of a universal force, gravity, which applies to all objects in all parts of the universe.”

This year’s Noble Laureate is rewarded for answering the question: how does a force make a body move ? This fundamental question covers every object in the Universe from cups on a table to the planets in the Heavens. Newton’s breakthrough was to develop a new mathematical approach: the calculus, that he successfully used to reason about the forces on a body and its resulting motion.

In his work Newton developed three laws of motion. The first states that a body will stay at rest, or remain in uniform motion in a straight line, unless a force acts upon it: a cannonball resting on the ground will remain stationary, however as it flies through the air both the forces of air resistance and gravity will bring it back to the earth. Newton also reasoned that the force applied to the object is equal to its mass times its acceleration, which is his second law of motion. For example, the force from the exploding gunpowder in a cannon accelerates the cannonball through the air. The greater the explosion the faster the cannon ball flies towards its target. Finally, when a cannon is fired, the cannon will be pushed backwards a yard or two. This action and reaction is described by Newton’s third law, which states that every action has an equal, and opposite reaction.

Newton’s work cumulated in an answer to the question of why objects fall to earth. Using the insights on the motion of bodies his answer identified a new force called gravity. He showed that gravity is an attractive force between bodies. The Earth, which is a very massive body, will exert a force on an apple, a relatively tiny body, as it hangs on a tree. The gravitational force is pulling the apple to the earth and the earth is being pulled towards apple ! Newton then reasoned that the same force is acting like a web on the planets, holding them in the Heavens, and stopping them from crashing into the Earth. He went on to develop a mathematical relationship for the gravitational force that involved the mass of the bodies and their distance apart from each other. Newton took this result and solved many outstanding problems, for example the deflection of the planet’s orbit around the sun by the pull of the its gravity, and the gravitational pull of the moon and sun to explain the ocean tides.

The Noble Committee agreed that the intellectual break through, and subsequent discoveries, made by Sir Issac Newton would benefit mankind for many years into the future.

Issac Newton, British citizen, Born 1642, England. Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, United Kingdom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton#Life

There is a danger when recommending books on a subject: too difficult and the reader will not get past the first few pages, too easy and they will start to get bored and wonder why they should bother. This fine line becomes precarious when recommending books about the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Wittgenstein attracts a lot of attention: he gave away a fortune that he inherited from his millionaire father; was decorated for valour for his service on the Eastern front and against the British army during the First Wold War; was a hospital porter; a gardener’s assistant in a monastery; designed a house in the modernist style for his sister in Vienna and at one time thought about being a monk. Against the background of his life he is considered by many to have been one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century ( Bertrand Russell being the other ). His life and work has generated over two thousand books, a large number of web sites, and what feels like a library full of academic papers. It is very easy to get lost in the growing material! However, the following books I have found helpful in developing my understanding of Wittgenstein’s work.

The first book that I would recommend is The Principles of Linguistic Philosophy by Frederich Waismann. The early chapters describe how philosophical problems arise and gives an overview of Wittgenstein’s solutions in non-technical language.

There are many general books on philosophy that have a section on Wittgenstein, but one of the most accessible is the chapter with John Searle in Bryan Magee’s The Great Philosophers ( pg 322 - 347 ) which gives a short and clear overview from the two major periods of his life: the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus ( known as the Tractatus ) and the later work Philosophical Investigations. Another accessible book with a clearly written section about the Philosophical Investigations is by Stephen Law The Great Philosophers ( pg 156 - 161 ).

A short introduction to Wittgenstein’s life and work is Norman Malcolm’s Ludwig Wittgenstein A Memoir. Malcolm was one Wittgenstein’s students and he gives a fascinating insight into his character. A more extensive book about Wittgenstein is Ray Monk’s The Duty of Genius.

To get a flavour of Wittgenstein’s solutions to philosophical problems, A. C. Graylings’s book Wittgenstein A Very Short Introduction gives enough detail to start understanding Wittgenstein’s approach to philosophical problems.

There are many specialised introductions for the Tractatus and Philosophical Investigations but Ray Monk’s How To Read Wittgenstein, explains passages from his work in a way that is understandable. Another short introduction to Wittgenstein’s approach to solving philosophical problems is Wittgenstein by P. M. S. Hacker ( part of the The Great Philosophers series ) which contains a section on whether a machine, in particular computers, can think ( very topical for todays world with the heated debates about Artificial Intelligence ).

The book that I first read about Wittgenstein, following a recommendation by a philosopher specialising in his work, was Wittgenstein by Anthony Kenny, which I regularly refer to.

A good preparation for reading Wittgenstein’s work directly ( he only published the Tractatus in his own life time but there are several books of his notes ), is Wittgenstein’s Tractatus an Introduction by H. O Mounce. Another book that gives a good overall in prepartion for reading the Philosophical Investigations is Marie McGinn’s Wittgenstein and the Philosophical Investigations. Both books are not easy to read but with perseverance then his work should start to make sense.

Hopefully the above will help you navigate through the forest of material about Wittgenstein - Good Luck!

Big Data is the big news. Many businesses, universities and other organisations are investing large amounts of money into developing technology that exploits the many pieces of data that we generate from our lives. In amongst the marketing frenzy for Big Data I came across
the term Thick Data which has been coined to cover a deeper look at the context within which data is gathered. I was intrigued and imagined a big pot of data stew being stirred with a thickening agent !

Trying to find an agreed definition for Thick Data has proved impossible. However summing and averaging the various definitions found on the web, I arrived at: Thick Data is data gathered about our behavior and underlying motivations. Traditionally the data has been gathered through surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, interviews, journals, videos and so on and gathered and interpreted by analysed by ethnographers ( the study of people and cultures and how they change ) and anthropologists ( the study of various aspects of humans within past and present societies ). Compared to the people who collect and analyse Big Data ( they often sit in IT functions with analytical degrees), there is a large gap between the two groups.

How could Big Data be thickened ? What capability would computer technology have to achieve to add context to data ?

In Clifford Geertz’ paper Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture he describes a situation challenge that computer technology would have to overcome to thicken data ( if you are interested in anthropology and ethnography then the whole paper is worth reading ): “… two boys rapidly contracting the eyelids of their right eyelids of their eyes. In one, this is an involuntary twitch, the other a conspiratorial signal to a friend. The two movements are, as movements, identical, from an I-am-a-camera, “phenomomenalistic” observation of them alone, one could not tell which was twitch and which was wink. Yet the difference, however unphotographicable, between twitch and a wink is vast, as anyone unfortunate enough to have had the first taken for the second knows. The winker is communicating, and indeed in a precise way: (1) deliberately, (2) to someone in particular, (3) impart a particular message, (4) according to socially established code, and (5) without of the cognizance of the rest of the company.”

Current computer technology can capture and analysis eye movement, and possibly distinguish a wink from normal eyelid movement, but can not interpret the communication of a wink. Also, computer technology has developed to a point where emotions can be captured ( see the Feel Wrist Band ) and levels of motivation can be measured ( usually measured against set goals ). However, gathering data to analyse the social context, as described in the passage above, has a long way to go.

The challenge for both computer technologists, and sociologists is: what developments in computer technology are required to gather thick data to enable a greater insight into our behaviours and motivations?

Since writing this post I came across an interesting TED talk - The human insights missing from big data - given by Tricia Wang who discusses the advantages of using ‘thick data’.

Over the years of writing posts for this blog I have learned lots of lessons. The following are the ones that I return to when my posts have lost their way.

1. Why do you want to write a blog?

A large amount of time and energy go into into writing a blog. Therefore it is important to be clear about why you are doing it. It can range from developing a customer base for your business to establishing yourself as a ‘thought leader’.

2. Who is the target audience?

You must identify the target audience - the people who are going to want to read your posts. What helps me to identify the the target reader is to have a picture in mind of the reader. For example, they maybe working in a busy office, mid career, possibly a team leader and thinking about their next job. Or it could be the owner of a small SME struggling with innovating new products. After spending lots of hours producing a post it is dispiriting when it is not read!

3. Why would the target audience want to read the blog?

What is the subject(s) that the target audience are going to find interesting. How will the subject(s) be used by the target audience, for example will it inform their business decisions?

4. How will the target audience find the blog?

Which communication channels will be used to promote the blog e.g. Twitter, recommendations by other bloggers, Search Engine Optimisation ( SEO ), targeting specific groups with tailored e-mails etc?

5. What frequency should the posts be published?

Everybody is busy and therefore how often will the target audience want to take a few minutes out to read the blog i.e once a week, once a month? Take into account the amount of time it will take to write a post and not churn them out too frequently so that the quality reduces - they must remain fresh and interesting.

6. What format should the blogs take?

The format needs to make reading the blog as easy as possible. For example what will be the best mix of graphics and text? Many bloggers use videos which will require a different set of skills than the written word.

7. What style should the blog have?

Will the blog be opinionated? - if so will it be balanced or take one side? Will it be informative? - in which case if it is using technical terminology then what is the level of knowledge of the target audience? If the blog is putting forward a case what is the key point and how do the supporting arguments support the central message?

8. How many words should a typical post be?

Length of the blog is important because reading it has to fit into the busy lives of the target audience. Should it be short and to the point or be long and full of detailed analysis? Should it be chatty in style or more formal?

9. What will be the process required to develop the posts?

a. Gathering Ideas

There are any number of sources for gathering ideas for a post: newspapers, magazines, journals, radio, TV, tweets, conversations, blogs etc. Other sources are: art exhibitions, museums, sport and theatre. The key point at this stage is to jot them down with a few lines about why they are interesting ( I use Google Documents on my smart phone but a pen and notebook is just as effective ).

b. Selecting An Idea To Develop

Setting a deadline for each post helps at the editing stage where time pressure can sharpen up a post. The following questions can be used to guide topic selection:

• What is the central message of the post?

• Why is the message important? Will it be useful, new, counterintuitive, or build on previous work ? If the message is exploring a new idea ( whether technological, social, business etc ) then what is it going to change?

• What credibility does you have to support the views expressed in the message? e.g. previous work, personal experience, academic or professional?

At this point draft a single sentence about what the post is about which will eventually be used as the summary. Also, start to think about an eye catching title that is relevant to the post.

c. The First Draft(s)

The purpose of the drafts at this stage is try and sharpen up the subject of the post. After several drafts it may not be clear but it is important to persevere. Sometimes it doesn’t become clear and then the idea goes back on the shelf until it can be developed more. I try to write 500 words a day around the subject. At the end of say a week I sift through the pages to find the key idea and fresh views on a subject.

d. Point of View

It is important to be clear what the relationship between yourself and the reader.

• First Person - you are writing about yourself and using words such as “I”, “me”,”my” and “mine”. But can also involve “We”, “Us” and “Our”. The post is about your personal experience and how that may relate to the target reader.

• Second Person - you are addressing the reader directly and using “you”, “your” and “yours”. For example, this post is addressing you!

• Third Person - you are telling the reader and using words such as “he”, “she”,”it” and “they”. You may be writing a post where you are making a judgement about others. For example it could be about the government or a celebrity.

e. Editing

People can view editing as a ‘slash and burn’ process as their work is cut and changed. However, it as an important part in the creative process.

• Grammar - is the thought being expressed in each sentence clearly expressed ? Are nouns, verbs etc. used correctly? Are the aspects of time - past, present, and future - consistent?

• Paragraphs - are the paragraphs clearly linked?

• Title - is it eye catching enough for the reader to read further?

• Single sentence summary - does the single sentence that is used accurately cover the post? Can the number of words be reduced further?

• Tags - are the tags cover the key points in the post?

• Length - my posts are aimed at a quick read ( maybe over a coffee? ) therefore the length needs to be somewhere around 500 - 700 words. However, you may want to increase the length to cover wider topics. Your decision.

10. How will feedback be gathered and used about the blog’s readership?

Apart from using Google Analytics to gather the frequency of readership ( which could be used to set targets ), adding comment capabilities to the blog allows direct feedback about your posts. Finally, how will regular communication with the target audience be managed? - email subscriptions? RSS etc.?

The lessons listed above are not definitive ( I keep adding to them on a regular basis ) but they may be a starting point to help turn you into successful blogger. Good luck!

I have gathered together tools and advice that I use regularly to sharpen up my posts - see tools of the trade