How can we all contribute to scientific knowledge
We can all contribute to generate scientific knowledge: this is the basic assumption of citizen science, a seductive research modality that comes out of classrooms, cubicles and laboratories, and involves ordinary people. In the spirit of collaborative companies -like the indispensable Wikipedia-, in which a multitude of participants join forces to reach a higher goal, this decentralized way of doing science consists of accumulating observations, records and analysis of hundreds, or even millions, of volunteers in any part of the world, willing to contribute their time and curiosity in order to understand phenomena that could not be dealt with only with the work of professional scientists and that often are mainly the responsibility of local communities. With a sharp and humorous prose, and with a fine balance between colloquial and technical rigor, Caren Cooper presents here the history, the conceptual foundations and the social reaches of citizen science, more numerous examples of how people from all over the planet are participating in the study of climate, the starry sky, birds or insects, and contributing to the advancement of disciplines such as biochemistry, microbiology, geography or public health. After reading this book you will also want to contribute your grain of sand to the science of our times.