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From farming and building to creating telescopes, these endeavours sowed the seeds for science.

For most of human history, there were two reasons why people tinkered with the natural world: to stay alive -- or live better); or to satisfy their curiosity.

Millions of us have access to swathes of scientific information thanks to the internet, open-access publishing and servers dishing up drafts of scientific papers before they are formally published.

And over time those enthusiasts scouring beaches for fossils, or mixing concoctions in their garden sheds, came to be seen as lone eccentrics.

Over the centuries, science became institutionalized. At first, though, there was plenty of room for the unaffiliated amateur-the likes of Darwin or Einstein.

But eventually, firm boundaries were established: inside were professional scientists, out-side were… who exactly? Amateurs.

Aside from sorting raw data and turning it into useful information, mass participation can help us collect desperately needed big data from hard-to-reach places.

But now there's a revolution going on. All you need is a bit of spare time, and stable telecommunications.

For example, the CureTogether website discovered that a subset of migraine sufferers were more likely to experience side effects when they took the migraine medication. Thank you.

There are self-organized efforts, too, as individual log details about their own health, which are then fastidiously collected into Quantified Self projects. Such projects can help highlight unforeseen trends.