Overview

The identity of computing has been fiercely debated throughout its short history. Why is it still so hard to define computing as an academic discipline? Is computing a scientific, mathematical, or engineering discipline? By describing the mathematical, engineering, and scientific traditions of computing, The Science of Computing: Shaping a Discipline presents a rich picture of computing from the viewpoints of the field s champions. The book helps readers understand the debates about computing as a discipline. It explains the context of computing s central debates and portrays a broad perspective of the discipline. The book first looks at computing as a formal, theoretical discipline that is in many ways similar to mathematics, yet different in crucial ways. It traces a number of discussions about the theoretical nature of computing from the field s intellectual origins in mathematical logic to modern views of the role of theory in computing. The book then explores the debates about computing as an engineering discipline, from the central technical innovations to the birth of the modern technical paradigm of computing to computing s arrival as a new technical profession to software engineering gradually becoming an academic discipline. It presents arguments for and against the view of computing as engineering within the context of software production and analyzes the clash between the theoretical and practical mindsets. The book concludes with the view of computing as a science in its own right not just as a tool for other sciences. It covers the early identity debates of computing, various views of computing as a science, and some famous characterizations of the discipline. It also addresses the experimental computer science debate, the view of computing as a natural science, and the algorithmization of sciences.

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9781322635590

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This is a terrific investigation of the philosophical issues around the nature and history of computer science, examining whether it is a science, and, if so, what kind of science it might be. William J. Rapaport, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York Written with insight, exceptional clarity, and command of the facts, The Science of Computing: Shaping a Discipline provides a timely and much-needed account. Following a historical development of the discipline, from its strong relation to mathematics and engineering, it elaborates on computing as a science of both the artificial and the natural. Must-read for anyone interested in understanding the computing discipline. Gordana Dodig Crnkovic, Malardalen University and Chalmers University of Technology Critics of computer science (CS) have long claimed that CS is engineering and mathematics, but not science. Laying bare the historical records of the field, Matti Tedre demonstrates that science and the experimental method have been part of CS since the beginning. Moreover, CS has always been interested with supporting all fields of science with methods that aid scientific discoveries and cope with the increasing quantities of scientific data. Read this and you will understand CS better. Peter J. Denning, Author of Great Principles of Computing (MIT Press, 2015)

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