I explain some very approachable methods for analyzing big data via a detour through clipper ships and the 19th century open source scene.
Note that I mixed up the route of the Flying Cloud record in this talk. The Flying Cloud's record was actually from New York to San Francisco and was even more impressive than what I said. The usual time had been about 180 days. With Maury's charts, the time was reduced to about 135 days. The Flying Cloud's time was 89 days.
Thanks to Chen Kung for noticing my error.