Open Science Now! AOW #26

http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_nielsen_open_science_now.html

This video on ted.com is of Michael Nielsen trying to persuade people to join in the Open Science Project. This project is trying to make it so that the scientists who make discoveries do not hide them from the world until they can get credit for everything that they have researched, but post their findings on social networks made for scientific studies. He talks about a similar project called the Polymath Project, which was a blog in which mathematicians posted on in hopes to find a solution to a very complicated problem they faced. On the 37th day that this blog was online, the creator posted that they had found the solution and the polymath project had been a success. Michael Nielsen, the speaker, is a Fulbright grad physicist who has published several books pertaining to quantum physics and, more recently, the Open Science Project. The context of this speech is that many scientist are hiding their discoveries from the public because they do not want to risk losing credit for their work. Nielsen perfomed this speech in hopes that these scientists, his audience, will join together to change the culture of science and share their discoveries as they find them. He uses all three appeals to help prove his point. He uses logos through examples of what worked and what did not work. Also, these examples along with diction and style were used to develop his persona, or ethos. And his and our wish for science to move forward to appeal to pathos. I do not think that he reached his purpose because this may sound like a great idea, but the scientists would put way too much at risk and would not want to lose credit for their discoveries. We will just have to wait and see if the Open Science Project is a success or not.