The best data scientist in the world.

If you have read The Foundation Series by the tremendous Asimov ( better known for his famous Three Laws of Robotics ), you may have guessed whom I am referring to.

If not, and if your last wish in the world is to be spoiled, please do not carry on reading.

Also, if you have never plunged into a science fiction book beforehand and you love stories, let me share some thoughts with you.

Why is Science Fiction so underrated?

The Science fiction genre is usually correlated with special effects, sophisticated weapons, and robots. Unlike what everyone thinks, it is deeper than that. Before being projected on the screen, it was a literary movement. Stories were made and worlds were created to think of alternative realities; what would be the future given a level of technology? What would have been the past if the technology was different?

It speculates about these interrogations while questioning impacts on the economy, sociology, religion.

Where did I find the world's best data scientist?

The Foundation series is a story taking place in a far distant future. Humanity is spread by billions across the universe outside the solar system and is governed by the Galactic Empire. Humanity is witnessing an avalanche of decline both sociologically and technologically. Under this threatening decay, a mathematician stands before the Empire, stating that the universe will succumb in complete chaos for 30000 years based on his calculations and that the estimated era of turmoil can be reduced to a thousand years if things go according to a plan he has in mind.

Who is the world's best data scientist?

Hari Seldon is a seasoned mathematician who developed a predictive science under the name of Psychohistory, a gathering of statistical laws applicable to a large number of populations, which allowed him to make predictions with regards to humanity's destiny.

What was his plan?

To overcome the upcoming Dark Ages, and based on his psychohistorical calculations, Hari Seldon thought of implementing the next plan:

Setting up a first Foundation consisting of a group of scientists to remain in an isolated planet, whose main goal is to collect every findable piece of knowledge, compile them into a galactic encyclopedia and thrive as a galactic power. Parallel to that, a second Foundation had to be established to oversee the first one unbeknownst to it.

How does all of that relate to data science?

First Short answer: Storytelling.

Upon checking the different probabilities issued from his calculations, Hari Seldon made recommendations that were driven by what he foresaw. He claimed the Foundation is to be going through a series of Seldon Crises, through which a decision of handling things must be done to steer away from the destruction of the Foundation and lead to its galactic shine as opposed to 30.000 years of barbaric violence that would ensue after the colossal fall of the Galactic Empire.

Second short answer: Data leakage.

In data terms, this is explained by the fact that knowledge of the hold-out test set leaks into the dataset used to train a given model. Hari Seldon insisted on the First Foundation being completely unaware of the Second one since the latter is a part of the plan. If the First foundation came to know the existence of the second one, it would be aware of a big part of its predicted destiny, thus altering the outcomes of the plan.

Third short answer: Anomaly detection.

Later in the story, The mule, a threatening enemy, makes himself known to the Foundation, putting the Seldon Plan in jeopardy and compromising its steady progression. To eradicate every possibility of drifting from the plan, the second Foundation had to intervene incognito to neutralize him.

Other fun facts?

Hari Seldon is not the protagonist. I deliberately omitted a thousand other characters introduced in the series and partaking in the process of the uprising of the new Empire. I humorously took note of the different analogies which could be made with many current concepts related to AI, Big Data, and Statistics. There are many others that I chose not to disclose since a fine plot twist awaits you at the end :) .