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diff --git a/posts/modelthing-background.md b/posts/modelthing-background.md index 9234f70..ae79211 100644 --- a/posts/modelthing-background.md +++ b/posts/modelthing-background.md @@ -4,35 +4,21 @@ Date: 2020-06-28 Tags: modelthing Status: draft -This post describes the potential I see for collaborative infrastructure to -agument group research and understanding of mathematical models. This type of -model, consisting of symbolic equations than can be manupulated and computed by -both humans and machines, have historically been surprisingly effective at -describing the natural world. A prototype exploring some of these ideas is -running at [modelthing.org](https://modelthing.org). - -After describing why this work is interesting and important to me personally, I -will describe a vision of what augmentation systems might look like, describe -some existing tools, then finally propose some specific tools to build and -research questions to answer. - -Outline - -* personal backstory - => technologist essay - => my previous work -* what would be better? -* existing ecosystem - => latex, mathml - => modelica - => SBML -* proposed system and research questions - => modelthing.org -* reference list +This post describes the potential for collaborative infrastructure to agument +human research and understanding using mathematical models. These models, +consisting of symbolic equations which are semantic and machine-readable, have +historically been "unreasonably effective" at describing the natural world. A +prototype exploring some of these ideas is running at +[modelthing.org](https://modelthing.org). + +After describing why I am personally interested in this work, I will describe a +vision of what augmentation systems might look like, describe some existing +tools, then finally propose some specific tools to build and research questions +to answer. ## Personal Backstory -*Feel free to skip this section* +*Feel free to skip this section...* Much of my university (undergraduate) time studying physics was spent exploring computational packages and computer algebra systems to automate math. These @@ -42,14 +28,27 @@ real-time data acquisition or simulation systems like LabView, ROOT, Geant4, and EPICS. I frequently used an online system called Hyperphysics to refresh my memory of basic physics and make quick calculations of things like Rayleigh scattering, and often wished I could contribute to and extend that website to -more areas of math and physics. In some cases these computational resources +more areas of math and physics. In some cases these computational resources made it possible to skip over learning the underlying methods and math. A symptom of this was submitting problem set solutions typeset on a computer (with LaTeX), then failing to solve the same problems with pen and paper in exams. +<center> +<a href="http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geoopt/refr.html"> + <img src="/static/fig/hyperphysics_index_refraction.png" alt="hyperphysics screenshot" title="hyperphysics screenshot" height=500px"> +</a> +<div class="content_caption"> +Example record in Hyperphysics, which has been ported from Hypercard to the web +</div> +</center> + <div class="sidebar"> <img src="/static/fig/sicm_cover.jpg" width="150px" alt="SICM book cover"><br> +This isn't to say that computers as a pedagogical tool can replace +human mentorship and interaction; the SICM course was also one of the most +instructor-intensive and peer-interactive of any I took. And of course this +learning format will not be best for everybody. </div> A particularly influential experience late in my education was taking a course @@ -63,13 +62,6 @@ confusion or misunderstanding of the physics than computer science. I came to believe while teaching another human is the *best* way to demonstrate deep knowledge of a subject, teaching to a *computer* can be a pretty good start. -<div class="sidebar"> -This isn't to say that computers as a pedagogical tool can replace -human mentorship and interaction; the SICM course was also one of the most -instructor-intensive and peer-interactive of any I took. And of course this -learning format will not be best for everybody. -</div> - Some years later, I found myself at a junction in my career and looking for a larger project to dig in to. I think of myself as a narrative-motivated individual, and was struggling to make a connection between my specific skills @@ -125,10 +117,15 @@ Some best practices: acceptable (and often desirable) for software tools. * **Scale up and down** -examples of applying core goal: --> "does veganism make sense" --> COVID-19 modeling --> understand equilibrium finances of large companies/institutions, for the people inside those institutions ("business model") +Examples of applying core goal: + +* "earth systems" and ecosystems +* robotic control systems +* "does veganism make sense" +* COVID-19 modeling +* systems biology +* understand equilibrium finances of large companies/institutions, for the + people inside those institutions (aka, "business model") ## Existing Ecosystem @@ -151,6 +148,8 @@ Proposed system to build: * tooling/systems to combine and build large compound models from components * public wiki-like catalog to collect and edit models +Research questions: + Will mathematics continue to be "unreasonably effective" in the natural sciences as we try to understand larger and more complex systems? |