And the clouds parted, and Rajeev Prasad said... > > computer science is no science at all. It is only layers of information. It > is physics and mathematics which makes this number crunching plastic do its > job. that is science. rest of the stuff as Jerry said it is a BIGENNER's > list. so it will be like the way it is. >
Hi Rajeev- I'm afraid I must disagree. Science can be defined (in this sense) as "knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method"[1], and lest I be accused of circular reasoning, the scientific method referred to above would be "principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses."[2] It is true that mathematics and physics (as well as chemistry) are integral parts (excuse the pun) of computer science, just as mathematics can be said to be an integral part of quantum mechanics. They are prerequisite bases of knowledge without which the composite science would be well nigh impossible to discuss, much less work in. This does not mean that the composite science is not a science in its own right. Computer scientists propose theorems and design experiments to test said theorems. Their theories predict behaviors resulting from given conditions and can be demonstrated to be valid or not. "Big O" notation, analysis of algorithms, cryptology, information theory, pattern recognition, graph theory, computational biology; all of these are examples of tools, branches, and applications of a real, definable, rigorous science. Try reading through one or two volumes of Knuth's[3] "The Art of Computer Programming" and try to tell me that computer science isn't a "real" science. ;) Sorry, I know far too many brilliant CS researchers to let this comment go by unanswered. :) Respectfully, Brian [1] http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=science Definition 3a. [2] http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=scientific+method [3] http://www-cs-staff.stanford.edu/~knuth/index.html /~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ | Brian Gerard Any sufficiently advanced technology is | | First initial + 'lists' indistinguishable from a perl script. | | at technobrat dot com | \______________________________________________________________________/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
