What is Computer Science About? (1)

Now I like to say that computer science is not about computers. That it’s kind of a historical accident of the English language that it’s even called that. I much prefer the Dutch informatica, but that’s neither here nor there.

My compatriot Edsger Dijkstra reportedly put it like this: computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. As in: yes, we use computers – and we have opinions about them – but that’s not what we’re actually studying. Apparently this quote is not attested, but here’s a real Dijkstra aphorism: calling it computer science is like calling surgery “knife science.” In this context one might also consider Feynman, speaking about physics (and possibly other activities) saying: “sure, it may get practical results, but that’s not why we do it.”

Today is your reminder to think a bit about philosophy of science. What are you studying and to what end? Find some opinions to check out, and maybe check out this video I made a while ago, where I ask you to think about how much of a decision it is that we use asymptotic analysis and big Oh notation when we analyse runtimes. Why is that reasonable?