contributed articles
Doi: 10.1145/1897852.1897871
Compose “dream tools” from continuously
evolving bundles of software to make sense
of complex scientific data sets.
By Katy BöRneR
Plug-and-Play
Macroscopes
DeCiSiOn MaKing in science, industry, and politics,
as well as in daily life, requires that we make sense
of data sets representing the structure and dynamics
of complex systems. Analysis, navigation, and
management of these continuously evolving data sets
require a new kind of data-analysis and visualization
tool we call a macroscope (from the Greek macros, or
“great,” and skopein, or “to observe”) inspired by de
Rosnay’s futurist science writings. 8
Just as the microscope made it possible for the
naked human eye to see cells, microbes, and viruses,
thereby advancing biology and medicine, and
just as the telescope opened the human mind to
the immensity of the cosmos and the conquest of
space—the macroscope promises to help make sense
of yet another dimension—the infinitely complex.
Macroscopes provide a “vision of the whole,” helping
us “synthesize” the related elements and detect
patterns, trends, and outliers while granting access to
myriad details. 18, 19 Rather than make things larger or
smaller, macroscopes let us observe what is at once
too great, slow, or complex for the human eye and
mind to notice and comprehend.
Many of the best micro-, tele-, and
macroscopes are designed by scientists keen to observe and comprehend
what no one has seen or understood
before. Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) recognized the potential of a spyglass for
the study of the heavens, ground and
polished his own lenses, and used the
improved optical instruments to make
discoveries like the moons of Jupiter,
providing quantitative evidence for the
Copernican theory. Today, scientists
repurpose, extend, and invent new
hardware and software to create macroscopes that may solve both local and
global challenges20 (see the sidebar
“Changing Scientific Landscape”).
My aim here is to inspire computer scientists to implement software
frameworks that empower domain scientists to assemble their own continuously evolving macroscopes, adding
and upgrading existing (and removing
obsolete) plug-ins to arrive at a set that
is truly relevant for their work—with
little or no help from computer scientists. Some macroscopes may resemble cyberinfrastructures (CIs), 1
providing user-friendly access to massive
amounts of data, services, computing
resources, and expert communities.
Others may be Web services or standalone tools. While microscopes and
telescopes are physical instruments,
macroscopes resemble continuously
changing bundles of software plug-ins.
Macroscopes make it easy to select and
combine algorithm and tool plug-ins
but also interface plug-ins, workflow
support, logging, scheduling, and other plug-ins needed for scientifically rigorous work. They make it easy to share
key insights
osGi/cishell-powered tools improve
decision making in e-science,
government, industry, and education.
non-programmers can use osGi/cishell
to assemble custom “dream tools.”
new plug-ins are retrieved automatically
via osGi update services or shared via
email and added manually; they can be
plugged and played dynamically, without
restarting the tool.