Master The Mystic Art – A Beginners Tale

The world of Analytics/Data Science is like Magic to many people. In my upcoming book (Coming Soon) I try to make an attempt to demystify this Art. I utilize references of “The Sorting Hat” (Harry Potter you see), Cooking in everyday life and even Tom Riddles Diary to simplify the concepts. I would want anyone (Muggles = Non Data Science folks ) to be able to pick up my book and understand the concepts. I hope the final output is unique and something different, still there is some time for the final version to get completed.

Today, I am speaking with Ms. Pragya Sharma who shares her views and perception after reading some chapters of my book.

What was your initial reaction when you heard the Title of the Book?

When I first saw the final cover page of the book, I thought it is some kind of a fantasy novel. The title is catchy and made me feel dark and obscure. The terms like classification, regression and forecasting etc. mentioned on the cover page gives it a more scientific view.

As a Muggle (Non-Data Science Folk) how easy is to learn Wizardry (Data Science)?

It is difficult, how can learning about a complicated alien subject be easy or even interesting? Data science is a wonderful tool and finds its application across almost all the departments. It is no longer a thing used for betterment/helping aid for our work but is a necessity and mandatory skill in todays world. Being a person from a completely different background (biology) understanding even the simple mathematical concepts and technicalities becomes a challenge. For a Non – data science person, application of these concepts and an ability to use them for solving their own subject’s problem is all that is needed.

What makes the book different as compared to any other book of Wizardry?

I am sure the author understood the feelings of a muggle and added lots of fun elements, fantasies, stories etc. and tried his best to give the reader a fun ride to that alien world of data science . This makes the book special and unique!

During my course I came across some data science books and I read them all as I was really struggling to understand the subject. But, to be very honest I did not understand much. My friends (from a technology background) told me that finding a simple and friendly book, for such complex and intricate topics is far- fetched. That’s why this book needs an applaud, the author made the subject look more manageable and possible.   

Further the names of the chapters and the way they are written makes the book really fascinating. The author tried to portray data science as a mystical or occult practice and not as a technical thing, which is a very unique analogy to make and it helps to keep the engagement of the readers in the subject without making them bored of it.

He explained some technical and data science related things by giving instances from everyday life skills like cooking, or using the examples of movies, discussing about the working of a film camera or just by talking about something as basic as alphabets. Also, the language is very simple and non-technical, which makes it really friendly for people with non-technical backgrounds, who want to understand the subject.

In one of the chapters “Kindergarten cop”, there is an explanation about the mechanism by which a machine learns. The concept is introduced so beautifully from the very base that the neural networks of the machine and human brain looked almost similar and comparable. Relating the Machine learning steps with the child’s learning process is a truly amazing technique. It not only teaches the concepts but also talks about how it originated in the first place. This boosts the creativity and opens a room for more innovative thinking. 

Why do you think the author wrote this book?

I think the author wants to explore an entire new dimension of the work where science and mysticism can be explained and made easy with the help of each other. This book can be truly called a ‘data science novel’. He wanted to write a book that anyone can understand and take advantage of the information. I am sure after reading this book many people would want to learn these concepts and skills in depth, as they will understand the value, they will be getting out of it.

To whom would you recommend this book?

The scope of this book is quite wide. I think it’s a novel which is open to all. As it is a mixture of science, arts, mysticism, mathematics and technology, all the students, working professionals, entrepreneurs, health industry professionals etc. must read this book.

Tell us bit more about yourself, how long have you been an aspiring wizard?

I was introduced to data science during my summer internship. Since, I am a post graduate in Pharmacy, I never came across complicated IT subjects before. My Summer Internship Project was about solving a problem related to drug discovery and drug re-purposing (for COVID-19). Thanks to my mentor, I got a chance to learn about neural networks and their wide application in drug discovery. Since then, I have developed a huge interest in data science and analytics and started learning it more and taking up more courses for the same. I would love to explore more possibilities and avenues related to data science and data analysis, using few other concepts, some of them are mentioned in the book itself.

Thank You Pragya for taking time and sharing your views around my book “Master the Mystic Arts”. Watch out this space for more such views from Muggles and Masters 😊.