Columbia University professors Jeannette M. Wing and Chris H. Wiggins collaborated with Alfred Spector (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Peter Norvig (Stanford University) to complete a new textbook, Data Science in Context: Foundations, Challenges, Opportunities. Publication is planned for February 2023 by Cambridge University Press.

The textbook presents a wide collection of topics ranging from the complexity of data gathering to ethics. It is organized around a seven element analysis rubric that enumerates the breadth of considerations that students, practitioners, policymakers, and the public may consider.

“We do not duplicate the excellent statistics, machine learning, and optimization texts already available,” Spector said. “Instead, we provide our readers with important perspectives on this very influential and complex technology, using vignettes and real-life context to illuminate data science’s perils and great opportunities.”

Wing is executive vice president for research and a professor of computer science. She previously served as Avanessians Director of the Data Science Institute and is a member of the Foundations of Data Science and Cybersecurity centers. She is widely recognized for her intellectual leadership in computer science, and more recently in data science. Wing’s seminal essay, titled “Computational Thinking,” is credited with helping to establish the centrality of computer science to problem solving in all other disciplines.

Wiggins is an associate professor of applied mathematics and chief data scientist at The New York Times. He is a founding member of the Data Science Institute’s executive committee and a member of its Foundations of Data Science and Health Analytics centers and the Computational Social Science, Materials Discovery Analytics, and Education working groups. He is also a co-founder and co-organizer of hackNY.

A pre-publication draft is free to view and download for personal use only; not for redistribution, resale, or use in derivative works.

Read More: Authors’ Manuscript