Inspired by Archimedes...Counting Sand

How much sand would it take to fill the universe? And what does this 2,000-year-old question have to do with a podcast on today’s big data challenges? In this kick-off episode of the Counting Sand podcast, host Angelo Kastroulis, CEO of Carrera Group, explains how an early research paper by Archimedes of Syracuse has much in common with his own approach to today’s big questions in data science and how the paper provides not only a metaphor for how we can meld research and practice in tackling today’s big problems but also the inspiration for the perfect podcast name.

In order to explain the origin of the name of this podcast, Angelo starts with a little history on Archimedes, as both a practical designer and also a scientist interested in the theoretical underpinnings of mathematical principles.

Angelo then talks about some important research by Archimedes but begins by explaining what a research paper is, what the history of research papers is, and why anyone undertakes writing one. He then spends time talking about Archimedes’ paper that attempts to spell out how many grains of sand would be needed to fill the universe. Of course, to answer this, Archimedes needed to approximate the size of the universe and, in order to do that, he had to develop a new number system.

Angelo—who himself has both a Greek and entrepreneurial heritage—begins to draw parallels to Archimedes and his approach to the sand problem and his own approach to understanding and addressing big problems today. He talks about his journey to find the balance of the theoretical and practical, just as Archimedes did, applying a rigorous methodology, dealing with disappointment, and exercising patience.  Angelo shares his first operating axiom: “When the solution isn’t readily apparent, be patient, keep researching; the solution will present itself.”

In his work as a data scientist and technologist best known for his high-performance computing and Health IT experience, Angelo uses this process time and again. In this episode he gives examples from his own research career and the applications he has developed. Ultimately he shares his axiom #2: “If you find yourself doing too much theory, do more application and it will make your theory better, If you find yourself doing too much application, do more theory and it will make your application better.”

As Angelo says, Counting Sand will be a bit different than other podcasts. We will talk about some big problems and both discuss the theory behind potential solutions and see how they can be applied to tackle real problems. We are excited to bring listeners along for the ride.

Citations

Bourne, S. (2004, Deecembeer 6). A Conversation with Bruce Lindsay. A conversation with Bruce Lindsay – ACM Queue. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1036486.

Heath, T.G. (2020). The Sand-Reckoner of Archimedes (Vol. 1). Library of Alexandria.

Kastroulis, A. (2019). Towards Learned Access Path Selection: Using Artificial Intelligence to Determine the Decision Boundary of Scan vs Index Probes in Data Systems (Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University)

Further Reading

On Archimedes’ Sand Reckoner

Angelo Kastroulis’ Harvard master’s thesis

The Harvard Data Systems Lab

“Publish or Perish”

About the Host

Angelo Kastroulisis an award-winning technologist, inventor, entrepreneur, speaker, data scientist, and author best known for his high-performance computing and Health IT experience. He is the principal consultant, lead architect, and owner of Carrera Group, a consulting firm specializing in software modernization, event streaming (Kafka), big data, analytics (Spark, elastic Search, and Graph), and high-performance software development on many technical stacks (Java, .net, Scala, C++, and Rust). A Data Scientist at heart, trained at the Harvard Data Systems Lab, Angelo enjoys a research-driven approach to creating powerful, massively scalable applications and innovating new methods for superior performance. He loves to educate, discover, then see the knowledge through to practical implementation.

Host:Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer:Kerri Patterson; Producer:Leslie Jennings Rowley; Communications Strategist:Albert Perrotta

Music: All Things Grow byOliver Worth

© 2021, Carrera Group

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Video/Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth