An unconventional openness

"Michael Nielsen, speaking at our [the Royal Society] Policylab earlier this month, described two revolutions in open science – two periods of significant change in the way scientists share discoveries. The first revolution in the 17th century went hand in hand with the formalisation of the scientific method and the formation of the Royal Society. In just over a century, science went from secretive basement alchemy to peer-reviewed journals and public demonstrations of experiments. Today, the proliferation of huge datasets, models and software in scientific research require scientists to rethink how they share their work....For Nielsen, this is the beginning of a second open science revolution and an imperative for updating tools for sharing research practices and findings...."