On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 2:53 AM, Moez AbdelGawad <moeza...@outlook.com> wrote: >> I'm not quite sure I understand your question, but I'll give it a shot. >> :-) > > I'm in this same camp too :)
I am very thankful for the references given by everyone. Unfortunately my library does not have the titles and it will be some time before I can acquire them. I hope it not too intrusive to offer a few points that I've garnered from this conversation until I can study the history further. The main thing that I notice is that there is a heavy "bias" in academia towards mathematical models. I understand that Turing Machines, for example, were originally abstract computational concepts before there was an implementation in hardware, so I have some sympathies with that view, yet, should not the "Science" of "Computer Science" concern itself with how to map these abstract computational concepts into actual computational hardware? Otherwise, why not keep the field within mathematics and philosophy (where Logic traditionally has been)? I find it remarkable, for example, that the simple continued application of And/Or/Not gates can perform all the computation that C.S. concerns itself with and these form the basis for computer science in my mind, along with Boolean logic. (The implementation of digital logic into physical hardware is where C.S. stops and Engineering begins, I would argue.) But still, it seems that there are two ends, two poles, to the whole computer science enterprise that haven't been sufficiently *separated* so that they can be appreciated: logic gates vs. logical "calculus" and symbols. There is very little crossover as I can see. Perhaps the problem is the common use of the Greek root "logikos"; in the former, it pertains to binary arithmetic, where in the latter, it retains it's original Greek pertaining to *speech* and symbols, "logos"). Further, one can notice that in the former, the progression has been towards more sophisticated Data Structures (hence the evolution towards Object-Orientation), where in the latter (I'm guessing, since it's not my area of expertise) the progression has been towards function sophistication (where recursion seems to be paramount). In any case, I look forward to diving into the books and references you've all offered so generously so that I can appreciate the field and its history better. Mark Janssen Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, Washington -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list