Network Science
As recently as the mid 1990’s the possibility of significant discovery in science was cast in doubt. As John Horgan, author of “The End of Science” stated plaintively: “The great era of scientific discovery is over...Further research may yield no more great revelations of revolutions, but only incremental, diminishing returns". Network science emerged at the turn of the millennium as a transdisciplinary research paradigm that can reveal important insights into virtually any connected system. From protein to protein interactions, through neurons in the brain, intra- and inter- cellular communication, social and ecological systems and even the relationships among stars and galaxies, networks are everywhere. See Manuel Lima’s Royal Society talk for a nice overview.
To those working in groundbreaking fields like network science (the scientific study of connected systems), this idea might seem silly, but to a significant number of lay public, science is limited to that which they learned from grade school and the media. To them, science does have limits and the significant work going on in network science does not exist. Thomas Kuhn would probably have suggested that the reason for this lies in the fact that they are cognitively present in the old paradigm. As he stated in “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”: ”New paradigms create new worlds in which things are seen, which were imperceivable before”. He was referring to scientists in his original tome, but this problem applies equally well in any public sphere. The public understanding of how connected systems function and evolve is becoming increasingly important to the lives of global citizens. Without the ability to grasp complex relationships in evolutionary, ecological, social, and economic systems, it is hard to imagine how we will solve some of the most complex and intractable social, ecological and health problems of the twenty-first century. In order for network science to gain the broadest possible acceptance and participation, there needs to be increased exposure of the public to these concepts and resources available to lay citizenry, teachers and policy-makers to understand its significance and be able to articulate it to others. We need to facilitate such a paradigm shift in the public understanding of the world through the lens of connected systems to be able to sustain support for network science research in perpetuity, and better understand what is revealing itself to be an increasingly complex world. Indeed, emerging ideas in relational quantum physics suggest that our world only exists in terms of connections, what we think of as things that can be separated from other things is an illusion. Carlo Rovelli speaks eloquently about this groundbreaking new theory of quantum mechanics.
What is Network Science in Education?
Network Science in Education is a global initiative to improve understanding of the value, purpose and relevance of network science to the lives of all of us and using it as a tool to better understand the everyday complex systems of which we are a part. The goal of my colleagues and myself is for every teacher, student and community member to understand how to use networks as a tool to build a better future for our communities, our nations and our planet. It includes conferences, an annual symposium, workshops, poster sessions and other events to build capacity in teaching and learning about network science. We have built museum exhibits, a set of basic principles every student should know when they graduate high school translated into 20 languages, workshops for teachers and school administrators to integrate the power of networks into instruction and participate in the growing community of network scientists. ​
Connections: The Nature of Networks
To get this initiative started, in 2002, I proposed, developed and managed the world’s first public science center exhibition on network science, which opened in the New York Hall of Science’s North Wing expansion in 2004. Science centers, museums and other cultural institutions are central places to introduce the public to new ideas in science because their audience includes both the public schools and families. The idea emerged from research I had already been doing related to my doctoral thesis. I was asked to lead the development of one of the exhibitions to be about the network of networks: the Internet. But a survey of museum visitors, some deeper thinking, and a number of meetings with advisors revealed that as interesting as the Internet is, its enduring value would be difficult to realize in a permanent museum exhibit. “Connections: The Nature of Networks,” (NSF Award No. 0229268) was a unique public exhibition about connected systems of all kinds with a concentration on complex networks.
NetSciHigh
NetSciEd was an outgrowth of a program started In collaboration with Hiroki Sayama from Binghamton University in 2011. After attending a talk I did at the MIT Media Lab about the Connections exhibition and the role of network science in the future of education, Hiroki approached me during a coffee break and we talked about our mutual interest in getting network science into public education. Through support Hiroki had from NSF’s Cyberenabled DIscovery and Innovation program (Award Number 1027752) we developed a pilot competition for high school student teams to come up with and execute a one-year mentored program of research in collaboration with a network science research lab in the U.S. Northeast. The winning teams presented their research at the International Network Science School and Conference at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary in 2011. This led to a larger scale project that included Boston University funded by the National Science Foundation’s Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program (Award Numbers 1139478 and 1139482), which was a 3-year program based on the successful pilot. This support allowed the addition of an annual two-week summer boot camp for students, teachers and graduate school mentors prior to the year-long research project conducted by the student teams. More information can be found at the NetSci High website. Some of the links are broken but it gives you an idea of how this program worked. We obtained supplemental funding from NSF to have all of the students who participated in the program gather at the International Workshop on Complex Networks (CompleNet) in 2015, which I hosted at the New York Hall of Science to present posters and capstone projects and to celebrate five successful years of the NetSciHigh program. Stents went on to successful academic careers in computer science and other disciplines.
​Connected: The Six Degrees​
Soon thereafter an Australian Producer Annamaria Talas contacted me about a documentary on network science she was producing: “Connected: The Power of Six Degrees” (originally titled “Connected: How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer”). Based on a theory by Harvard psychologist Stanley Milgram that everyone is connected by six or fewer social connections, also known as "six degrees of separation". We provided assistance on production and shot one of the scenes at the New York Hall of Science’s Great Hall featuring Brett Tjaden, originator of the Oracle of Bacon. It’s North American Premier took place at the New York Hall of Science and subsequently aired on the Science Channel. We held a launch event and invited some of the scientists featured in the film to do a talk and Q&A after a screening of the film on site.
