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Cooper - Citizen science: how ordinary people are changing the face of discovery

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Cooper Citizen science: how ordinary people are changing the face of discovery
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Think you need a degree in science to contribute to important scientific discoveries Think again. A All around the world, in fields ranging from astronomy to zoology, millions of everyday people are choosing to participate in the scientific process. Working in cooperation with scientists in pursuit of information, innovation, and discovery, these volunteers are following protocols, collecting and reviewing data, and sharing their observations. A They are our neighbors, our in-laws, and people in the office down the hall. A Their story, along with the story of the social good that can result from citizen science, has largely been untold, until now. Citizen scientists are challenging old notions about who can conduct research, where knowledge can be acquired, and even how solutions to some of our biggest societal problems might emerge. In telling their story, Cooper will inspire readers to rethink their own assumptions about the role that individuals can play in gaining scientific understanding and putting that understanding to use as stewards of our world. Citizen Science will be a rallying call-to-arms, and will also function as an authoritative resource for those inspired by the featured stories and message.

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This edition first published in hardcover in the United States in 2016 by
The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc.

N EW Y ORK

141 Wooster Street

New York, NY 10012

www.overlookpress.com

For bulk and special sales, please contact ,
or write us at the above address.

Copyright 2016 by Caren Cooper

Insert photos courtesy of CoCoRaHS, NC State University, and The Crowd & The Cloud

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

ISBN 978-1-4683-1414-4

CITIZEN SCIENCE

How Ordinary People are
Changing the Face of Discovery

CAREN COOPER

With 15 color photographs

THINK YOU NEED A DEGREE in science to contribute to important scientific discoveries? Think again. All around the world, in fields ranging from astronomy to zoology, millions of everyday people are choosing to participate in the scientific process. Working in cooperation with scientists in pursuit of information, innovation, and discovery, these volunteers are following protocols, collecting and reviewing data, and sharing their observations. They are our neighbors, our in-laws, and people in the office down the hall. Their story, along with the story of the social good that can result from citizen science, has largely been untold, until now.

Citizen scientists are challenging old notions about who can conduct research, where knowledge can be acquired, and even how solutions to some of our biggest societal problems might emerge. In telling their story, Cooper will inspire readers to rethink their own assumptions about the role that individuals can play in gaining scientific understanding and putting that understanding to use as stewards of our world.

Citizen Science uncovers how people from all walks of liferetirees monitoring precipitation with standardized rain gauges, inmates raising, tagging, and releasing monarch butterflies to track their migration from the prison yard, video gamers solving biochemistry puzzles to help find cures for diseases like Alzheimers, and mothers advocating for heathy drinking water and clear air for their families and communitiescan tap into their potential to make scientific discoveries that lead to meaningful, positive change.

To my daughters, my strongest characters,
my complete alphabet, Abby and Zoe

Make a difference about something other than yourselves.

T ONI M ORRISON

The effect of this state of things is to make the medical profession a conspiracy to hide its own shortcomings. No doubt the same may be said of all professions. They are all conspiracies against the laity.

G EORGE B ERNARD S HAW

I N 1837, AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE R OYAL S OCIETY OF L ONDON , William Whewell finally received the recognition he had been working hard to achieve for years. Whewell was in his early forties, ambitious in his career. He was not yet married, but would eventually have two wives (sequentially, not simultaneously). He had just completed his book, The History of Inductive Sciences, which would go on to become highly influential in the shaping of science as a profession so beneficial to humanity that it should receive financial support from governments. At the time, the Royal Societys annual meeting traditionally honored two high-achieving individuals. (Today it honors three each year.) By a twist of fate, in 1837 Whewell stood alone in the spotlight: that year he was the one and only recipient of the Royal Medal (also called the Queens Medal). Britains highest scientific accolade has been awarded about four hundred times since its inception in 1826, though fewer than ten women have been recipients. In case the name Royal does not adequately convey the importance and prestige of this award, it might be useful to know that Charles Darwin received it twice. The Royal Medal from the Royal Society is the epitome of entry into a highly exclusive professional club for scholars who churn out new knowledge for the benefit of humanity. Their motto: Nullius in verba (Take nobodys word for it).

I emphasize the lofty and exclusive reputation carried by the Royal Medal because its award to Whewell for this particular research accomplishment is, in a certain way, an enormous irony. Whewell received this tribute for his scholarly contributions to the understanding of ocean tides in a project he called the great tide experiment. Yet he accomplished this research by relying on what amounted to almost a million observations collected by thousands of ordinary people living in coastal towns. Volunteers included dockyard officials, sailors, harbormasters, local tide table makers, coastal surveyors, professional military men, and amateur observers. From small notes collected by thousands while going about their daily lives, Whewell crafted and tested his theories.

Whewell was a pioneer in what today we call citizen science. It was without doubt borne of necessity: Whewell did what was needed to fulfill his research agenda, and relying on volunteers along the edge of the seas improved the quality of his research. Like the conductor of a global orchestra, he coordinated thousands of people in nine nations and colonies on both sides of the Atlantic in the synchronized measurement of tides. In our present era, when millions sit down and watch the Super Bowl at the same time, this synchrony may at first seem trivial. So I challenge you to arrange, without the help of a phone or the Internet, to meet even just five friends at an appointed time at a caf next month and see how many of them show up! In Whewells case, he arranged for volunteers at more than 650 tidal stations to follow his specific instructions for measuring tides around the clock at exactly the same points in time for two weeks in June 1835. Synchronous measurements on beaches and harbors worldwide were key because he hoped to draw cotidal lines across the ocean: a connect-the-dots effort from port to port. He wondered whether the timing of low tides in, say, London corresponded with high tides in, say, Boston. He found that the ocean was more complex than soup in a bowl being rocked back and forth.

Today citizen science not only fulfills research goals but also helps what is termed informal science education (that is, learning that takes place without a textbook or classroom). Whewell did not intend to in-crease the science literacy of the populace, nor did he gain a leg up in the eyes of the Royal Society because his insights were a collective effort. He received the honor because his insights were damned important. Great Britain was an empire, and by dominating ocean travel it could monopolize global trade. Figuring out the complexity of the tides was tricky and essential for moving from port to port. The basic knowledge that the moon influenced the tides had been accepted since the time of Galileo, but that abstract cause and effect was not useful in the daily prediction of the heights of local tides. Local tide charts were prepared by those with homespun secrets passed down from generation to generation; their reliability was great locally, but could not be extrapolated to other ports. By pioneering citizen science, Whewell also created a new field of science he called tidology, and was at the forefront of efforts to bring the study of tides away from celestial studies and down to earth (or the beach) in order to make reliable real-world predictions at any port. Yet, even after Whewells royal accomplishment, tide charts remained difficult to refine. More than a hundred years after Whewells work, an unexpected high tide in 1953 on the River Thames resulted in the drowning deaths of three hundred people.

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