The History of Data
With Circular References and Poor Attribution
It was an eventful decade. Catalonia had declared independence. Scotland was trying. There was contention over who owned Taiwan. The Vatican welcomed a new Pope. A major civil war was stealing the headlines. And in distant lands, Europeans were being beheaded.
It was the 1640’s — amazing how times change. Coffeehouses were the new rage. Global climates were beginning to change with the start of the Little Ice Age. Economic growth was led by development in China and America. And the scientific community was talking data.
data (n.) 1640s, plural of datum, from Latin datum “(thing) given,” neuter past participle of dare “to give”
It was the decade data was discovered. Well, not really. It was the decade data was rediscovered from its Latin roots. That’s not so accurate, either. It was the decade data was given. Let’s go with that…
The next two centuries were also eventful. The Age of Reason would see the birth of many new scientific disciplines; physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Well, more of a rebirth I suppose… Physics was new! Or was it just an extension of mathematics?
The Age of Reason was filled with books. Now that is true! Books were everywhere. Thanks to the newly invented printing press of …1440? Because after two centuries the printing presses of Europe were finally warmed up…?
It was the age of data. Why? It is hard to say. But somewhere in the 17th century, Bacon’s Scientific Method and Gutenberg's Printing Press started creating a whole lot of shareable information. Somewhere in the 1640’s, this information was dubbed data.
In fairness, the Scientific Method can not be attributed to Bacon. But, as Bacon makes everything better, I just went with it. Gutenberg actually invented a bible — well a type of bible — just easier for him to steal credit for the printing press…
Back to data, which was proving very useful in its age. Data was given to provide reason, the reason one scientist should be given credit over the other. The reason another scientist was clearly wrong… of course that was a given. A century of this was probably a good reason to find some enlightment…
The Age of Enlightenment ushered in many new field of science… or not. Once again dates and lineages are all quite arbitrary, but somewhere in this mess the continued proliferation of data allowed disciplines like economics, biology, and political science to emerge.
A few enlightened individuals even began to use books to give credit:
“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” — Isaac Newton, or was it Stephen Hawking? No, definitely Isaac
The Age of Enlightenment would close with some eventful decades. Catalonia declared independence, more popes, civil wars, more beheading, and plenty of other things you’ve oddly heard before. And the scientific community was talking statistics.
statistics (n.) Meaning “numerical data collected and classified” is from 1829; hence the study of any subject by means of extensive enumeration.
The word statistics had been used before — are you surprised? It was not discovered, rediscovered, or born. Centuries of data sharing and scientific methodologies led to a need for a new term. Statistics fit the bill… well not really, but back to our story.
The two centuries that followed would be as eventful as always. More books, more printing presses, more squabbling over attribution, and more drive for data and statistics.
At least one individual would spend a decade of his life collecting it. He would sail halfway around the world and give us a wonderful quote on the coming age:
The Industrial Age would see a proliferation of machines used to capture data and calculate statistics. These machines would prove very helpful as most scientists were distracted arguing over who should get credit for inventing the machines.
The Information Age would produce a revolution in communication. Al Gore’s internet would prove far more efficient than Gutenberg’s printing press. No longer would scientists need to go to the trouble of publishing books to argue what they deserved credit for… Wikipedia allowed them to do it with a single edit.
Nobody can say when the Information Age will close. Years from now, scientists will argue over the exact date and who deserves credit. Their arguments will certainly include data and statistics, though now scientists are talking about big data.
big data (n.) 2012, data with an important adjective, because every 180 years or so we need to change the buzzwords to pretend this is something new
Quintessentially is an article format created by Corsair’s Institute to increase the reader’s comprehension of key concepts by providing several distinct views on a central theme. For more articles from Data, Quintessentially — click here.
For more information on the author visit his profile on LinkedIN — George Earl
