DECISION MAKING IN science, industry, and politics, as well as in daily life, requires that we make sense of data sets representing the structure... » More

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 deRosnay’s futurist science writings. 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. 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.

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