ABSTRACT
“The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” This famous observation (attributed by Berlin, 1953, to a line in fragments of writing believed to be by the ancient Greek poet Archilochus) captures the idea that there are two separate ways of dealing with knowledge. One can be a hedgehog and capture a realm of facts with a single generalization, although inevitably this will lead to the loss of information. Alternatively, one can be a foxlike master of details, although this involves the risk that the big picture may not truly be captured. In any field of research, there is inevitably a need for both foxes and hedgehogs.
