Does Computer Science Require Computers?
The term “computer science” (CS) is a post World War II phrase even though humans have engaged in computation for thousands of years — most primitively in terms of counting or accounting. Shallit’s A Very Brief History of Computer Science notes that the first CS department was formed at Purdue in 1962. Richard Wexelblat obtained the first PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965.
The answer to the question in the title is “it depends.” It depends on how you think about “computer science”. My graduate degree was in “Computer and Information Science” and my job at the University of Florida was in the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Department. Is that enough to confuse everybody?
To me, computer science in contrast to computer engineering, is an extension of mathematics. It does not depend on technology, although it clear that technology helps us actualize information structures. We would be hard-pressed without the associated technology.
The astronomers do not call their field “telescope science” because the field is independent of technology that may be used to enhance it. The same is true for Computer Science. I feel more comfortable with “information science” because computer science is founded on the idea of formalizing data and process — both forms of information. Computers are optional.
Not everyone will agree with this definition, and that’s fine. We all have a different vocabulary and knowledge base. If you are in the Computer Science field, you have your own ideas on what it means. However, if you consider my definition, the following becomes part of “computer and information science”:
There are no computers here. Just a process. Rather than a decision-based flowchart, the flow suggests the the person moves through the system from top to bottom. In CS, we refer to this structure as “data flow.” Decision flowcharts, on the other hand, are examples of “control flow.” Side note, if you want access to hundreds of images go to my Pinterest site and browse the “flow” boards.
Computer Science, at its most fundamental level is independent of technology. At the very least, observing that all historical figures in computing were mathematicians (Leibniz, Babbage, Lovelace, Turing, von Neumann, and so forth) adds to the argument, or may also be the basis of the argument.
I recommend you sit down and figure out what “computer science means to you.” Your view will be interesting and relevant. Our field of computer science should wrestle with this idea. If you choose to go down the technology rabbit hole, then computer science must involve machines. But this strict phraseology begs the question of why no other academic subject (other than in Engineering) resorts to putting technology as part of the name? Biology is not microscope science.
I suggest that we need to broaden our understanding of computer science so that the (1) business process at the head of the article, (2) the flowchart about violence against women are both artifacts of computer science. Or if you like, computer and information science.
This broadening opens all sorts of doors. You can describe everything you see around you in terms of information and information flow.
Why aren’t we doing this? Because we are literally stuck inside the box. Time to get out of it.
