At Columbia University, data scientist Chris Wiggins and historian Matthew Jones teach a course called Data: Past, Present and Future. Out of this collaboration has come a book, How Data Happened: A History from the Age of Reason to the Age of Algorithms, to be published on Tuesday, March 21st by W.W. Norton. It should be required reading for anyone working with data of any sort to solve problems. The book promises a sweeping history of data and its technical, political, and ethical impact on people and power.

Chris Wiggins, Chief Data Scientist at The New York Times and a Columbia University professor, discusses the transition from predictive to prescriptive analytics. He emphasizes the importance of actionable decision systems, highlighting how hospitals could benefit from prescription-based treatments. Wiggins introduces the AI Hierarchy of Needs, outlines strategies for scaling data teams, and underlines the necessity of empathy in data science for effective collaboration. His insights help bridge the gap between advanced technology and practical organizational applications.

Chris Wiggins, Chief data scientist for the New York Times, and Matthew Jones, professor of history at Princeton University, discuss their book on the history of data and its impact on society. They explore topics such as the use of data for decision making, the development of statistical techniques, the influence of Francis Galton on eugenics, and the rise of data, compute, and algorithms in various fields.