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Computer science is not a science!


hipmatt

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Well i believe computer science is. I am writing an essay on why it is considered a science. I have found great peered reviewed articles on why it is but I cannot find a single article on why computer science is not a science. I need help in finding these articles. if anyone would be so kind in just point me in the right direction. :embarass:

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Well i believe computer science is. I am writing an essay on why it is considered a science. I have found great peered reviewed articles on why it is but I cannot find a single article on why computer science is not a science. I need help in finding these articles. if anyone would be so kind in just point me in the right direction. :embarass:

Because !~ Computer science is not (Universal scientific knowledge)
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Because !~ Computer science is not (Universal scientific knowledge)

Thank you Roger. for your explanation. I Have been searching different forums and a bunch of databases. There just seems to be no articles on why computer science is Not a science.

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Computer science really isn't a branch of physics. You could consider the electronic operations of a computer to be "approaching" physics, but most computer science programs in the US don't study that - you get that in an appropriate branch of electrical engineering.


Good courses in computer science might address things like dealing properly with cache memories in multi-core programming, but they really don't go down to the level of flip flops and gates and transistors.

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I don't get it - those aren't contradictory statements. There is math and there is science - they are separate fields. Computer "science" is more closely related to math.

 

I'm a simple layman, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't math the language of physics?

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math·e·mat·ics


maTH(ə)ˈmadiks/


noun







  1. the abstract science of number, quantity, and space. Mathematics may be studied in its own right ( pure mathematics ), or as it is applied to other disciplines such as physics and engineering ( applied mathematics ).











phys·ics


ˈfiziks/


noun







  1. the branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy. The subject matter of physics, distinguished from that of chemistry and biology, includes mechanics, heat, light and other radiation, sound, electricity, magnetism, and the structure of atoms.







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I don't consider computer science as a science because it is an artificial construct with no relation to the physical world. It is an invention. It is called a science because programming involves logical argument. I can't see it as a branch of maths either, it is just the mechanism by which a complicated machine works.

 

No, you can't study physics without maths, but it doesn't follow that maths is then a science.

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science
ˈsʌɪəns/
noun
noun: science
  1. the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
    "the world of science and technology"
    synonyms: branch of knowledge, body of knowledge/information/facts, area of study, discipline, field
    "the science of criminology"
    • a particular area of science.
      plural noun: sciences
      "veterinary science"
    • a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular subject.
      "the science of criminology"
    • archaic
      knowledge of any kind.
      "his rare science and his practical skill"

 

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I feel like computer science is really more of a branch of mathematics than of science.​

 

 

Science is about understanding things. Computer science teaches you to understand how computers work.

 

You could say computer science degrees aren't really science because at the end of the course you don't understand how a computer works or how to put a computer together yourself.

Edited by fiveworlds
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If you want to know how computers work, you would study computer engineering or electronic engineering.

 

Wikipedia

Theoretical computer science, or TCS, is a subset of general computer science and mathematics that focuses on more mathematical topics of computing and includes the theory of computation.

TCS covers a wide variety of topics including algorithms, data structures, computational complexity, parallel and distributed computation, probabilistic computation, quantum computation, automata theory, information theory, cryptography, program semantics and verification, machine learning, computational biology, computational economics, computational geometry, and computational number theory and algebra. Work in this field is often distinguished by its emphasis on mathematical technique and rigor.

Most programming languages facilitate calculating values. However, a class of symbolic languages, including reduction languages, optimizers and the Lambda Calculus. The input and output of these languages is or can be programs. MathCAD is a similar tool for manipulating symbolic math.

 

In addition, some, perhaps most, physicists will say that we cannot know whether we live in a physical Universe or a matrix-like simulation of the Universe.

 

I can think of many reasons CS is science, but none to deny it.

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I would argue that Computer Science is NOT science, it is Engineering. Pure sciences deal with discovery and explanation of the ways in which things arise, while engineering deals with application of scientific information to real world situations. Clearly (at least in my mind) the things that so-called Computer Scientists do is an application of mathematics and/or electronics and/or physics, which makes it a branch of engineering.

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Interesting the different opinions. As to OPs question, I am not sure if there are enough formal articles on the subject for a report. Maybe shift focus to something related?

 

CS does involve different sciences but at something of a remove. In this case I lean towards Science being used to mean specific study.

 

There's also the programming languages to consider. They are distinct human constructs despite all having their roots in mathematics.

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