Open science: Michael Nielsen at TEDxWaterloo

Abstract

I'd like to begin my talk with a story. It's a story that begins but does not end with a mathematician named Tim Gowers. Gowers is one of the world's most renowned mathematicians, he is a professor at Cambridge University and the recipient of the Fields Medal, often called the Nobel Prize of Mathematics. Gowers is also a blogger and in January of 2009 he used his blog to pose a very striking question: Is massively collaborative mathematics possible?