COMS 2500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: William Whewell, Citizen Science, Carl Linnaeus
13 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
Brief history; benefits, drawbacks: examples of citizen science projects. Citizen science: scientific activities in which non-professional scientists volunteer to participate in data collection or analysis, often (but not always) as part of a large collaborative project with professional scientists. In 1878: someone wrote directly to darwin about a shift in moth colour. Due to pollution in england, populations of moths became mostly dark-coloured (blended in more with the soot, and had a greater chance of surviving). 1600s: citizen scientists were developing sophisticated collaborations and networks. Norwegian bishop in 17th c. mobilized clergymen across the country send observations and specimens, as part of a larger project on classifying organisms. Carl linnaeus - famous for work that led to modern taxonomy in the 1700s. Benefited from volunteers and amateur scientists who provided him with samples and observations. Important trends of citizen science in the last 10 years.
