Book Review: How Data Happened: A History from the Age of Reason to the Age of Algorithms
The word "data" may conjure images of modern-day computers, complex technologies, or Excel spreadsheets. But the data-driven world we live in today did not just suddenly appear. There is a long history of data creation and curation that has brought us to the current paradigm and may forecast where we are headed. Chris Wiggins and Matthew L. Jones trace some of this history in their book How Data Happened: A History from the Age of Reason to the Age of Algorithms. Wiggins is an associate professor of applied mathematics at Columbia University, where he develops machine learning methods to aid in understanding biology and health. Jones is a historian of science and professor at Princeton University where he studies the impacts of mathematical thinking on the study of nature and politics. They combine their specialties into an engaging book that gives historical context to our data-dominated society.