SICP / What is "Computer Science" ?
Why Hacker News recommends it
Cited in debates over whether computer science is a science, and for Abelson's line that it is neither a science nor about computers.
What it is
An excerpt from Hal Abelson's opening SICP lecture introducing computer science and contrasting declarative and imperative knowledge. He argues that computer science is not really a science and is more like magic or engineering of ideas.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2008 to 2014.
What Hacker News said
Recommends tyn · 2008-09 · on “Posterous: I went to etc., can I still work for you?”
"Anything which uses science as part of its name isn't: political science, creation science, computer science." - Hal Abelson I would also recommend the first minutes of [this video]
Cites Xurinos · 2010-10 · on “Ask HN: Is computer science really a science?”
It is not a science. It is also not about computers. :) SICP lecture 1 -- [this video] But maybe it is a science: there are certainly a number of things in CS that yield facts about things like algorithms (Big O, etc). I read other comments here that compare computer science to math, and it is not an unfair comparison. However, even amongst mathematicians, you will see something of an avoidance to associate math with science. Math is a framework of a sort, a way to think. When we are talking about how to think, we are talking about philosophy. Science has its own roots in philosophy, so it is not surprising that we see some grey areas here. So let me rephrase it a little... When you learn Compute
Cites imaginaryunit · 2012-02 · on “Collection of Richard Feynman talks on the scientific method, learning, and CS”
Feynman's view on CS is similar by Hal Abelson's take on the term (see [this video] ). Abelson's point about CS being more like magic has always stuck with me.
Cites kylebrown · 2014-08 · on “Replication Controversy in Psychology”
Hal Abelson disagrees with you. "Computer Science is a terrible name for this business. First of all, its not a science. It might engineering, or it might be art. But we'll actually see that computer -- so-called science -- actually has a lot in common with magic."[1] 1. [this video]