Statistical Modeling: The Two Cultures (2001) [pdf]
This is a great little paper -- with comments and rejoinder!  I presented it to a reading group back when it appeared, I enjoyed it so much.  Always worth re-reading because Breiman is such a hero of useful probabilistic modeling and insight.<p>One should remember that it is a reflection of its time, and the dichotomy it proposed has been softened over the years.<p>Another paper, more recent, and re-examining some of these same trends in broader context, is by David Donoho:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;courses.csail.mit.edu&#x2F;18.337&#x2F;2015&#x2F;docs&#x2F;50YearsDataScience.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;courses.csail.mit.edu&#x2F;18.337&#x2F;2015&#x2F;docs&#x2F;50YearsDataSc...</a><p>Highly recommended.  Pretty good HN comments at:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10431617" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10431617</a>