My first task was to come up with a project idea. I have always loved statistics, so I wanted to do a project involving a lot of data and statistical analysis. I began looking on the internet to find some current research that was being conducted. I came across a man who was working with historical data. The data set that he was working with was ship log data taken by Benjamin Franklin to observe the Gulf Stream. In his possession, this man also had a data set by a less well known British colonist named Phineas Pemberton. I spoke with this man on the phone, and met with him at his office in New York City, where he told me more about the data set, and I became very interested. The data was taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the mid to late 1700s. This data is so significant because currently, if a climate scientist wants to do an investigation involving temperature data, they only have reliable data through the mid to late 1800s, so this data set would open up an additional 100 years of data. This is very significant, because the farther back into the climate history we can go, the better the trends that can be noticed, and then the better the predictions that can be made for the future.

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• Chemistry
• History