FIRST DATA SCIENTIST

Astronomer Tobias Mayer, born 1723, was the first data scientist John Rauser, a data scientist at Amazon.com, explained in a talk at Strata.

Mayer explained the motion of the moon using spherical motion trigonometry. In order to do this, Mayer compiled nine times as many data points as necessary (27 instead of three). Mayer claimed that because he had more data, his calculations were more accurate. Although he was wrong about just how much more accurate his data was (he claimed it was nine times better, but it was probably only about three times better) Rauser says, it was the first time someone made a quantitative argument that more data is better.

• In 1962, John W. Tukey wrote in “The Future of Data Analysis” - The first milestone in the history of data science is globally recognized for the bright American mathematician John Tukey.