"It's kind of like physics in its formative stages—Newton asking what makes the apple fall down," says Sanjeev Arora, Visiting Professor in the School of Mathematics, explaining the current scientific excitement about machine learning. "Thousands of years went by before science realized it was even a question worth asking. An analogous question in machine learning is 'What makes a bunch of pixels a picture of a pedestrian?' Machines are approaching human capabilities in such tasks, but we lack basic mathematical understanding of how and why they work."

“Myths about venture capital stand in the way of democratic deliberation about how our society might direct the socially generated surplus of today's economy towards building a better economy for the future,” says Julia Ott, Member in the School of Social Science, who is examining the origins of venture capital as an idea, as a form of investment, and as an organized industry.

“My research offers scholars, activists, and community organizers a new way to see race—as a rhetorical practice with historical roots that extend back well beyond the periods of Enlightenment science and American slavery to which it is often attached,” says Cord J. Whitaker, Member in the School of Historical Studies, who is examining the history and development of race and racism in medieval English literature.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this discovery. There is only one moment in human history when we will have seen a black hole for the first time. And that moment is April 10, 2019. 

What can the history of science contribute to two controversial aspects of biomedical research: gene patenting, and race and genomics?