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SICP / What is "Computer Science" ?

LarryNorman

284 subscribers • 1 video on Hallway

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  • Recommended by 1 person: 1 on Hacker News.
  • Presented by Hal Abelson, MIT professor
  • An opinion. It argues one side of a question engineers disagree on.

Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

131K views20 years ago1 recommendation

Computer scienceProgramming languagesComputation and complexityFunctional programmingLanguage design and type systems

Hal Abelson introduces the SICP course by explaining why computer science is not a science but rather a form of magic.

Hal Abelson gives an introduction to the "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" lecture with an explanation of Declarative and Imperative programming. Excerpted and adapted from Hal Abelson, "Introductory Undergraduate Subjects in Computer Science":- 6.001 differs from typical introductory computer science subjects in using Scheme (a block-structured dialect of Lisp) rather than Pascal as its programming vehicle. The subject's developers feel strongly that Pascal is hopelessly constraining, and that important ideas (such as functional programming and object-oriented programming) can be addressed within Pascal only awkwardly, if at all. In addition, they consider top-down hierarchical design, so often emphasized as a central theme in computer programming subjects, to be a minor and relatively simplistic strategy in the programmer's arsenal for attacking complex problems. mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/course.html

Why it's here

1 person recommends this

What people say. Engineers frequently cite this classic lecture clip to discuss the true nature of computer science and programming.

Moments people linked to

tynon Hacker News • Recommends

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 link to this video
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u/willardthorin r/compsci • Mentions

On “I'm thinking about switching my major to CS - any advice?”

You sound like a to-the-point, no-nonsense kind of guy. This indicates aptitude at critical thinking, which is essential to computer science. From your determination, you seem to have good potential. Some useful pointers: **What you need to know before switching:** * Computer science is not about computers. It is about computation: systematic problem solving. This guy explains (the last word, cut off, is "minds.") (I disagree with him crossing out "science", but everything else rings true). * Everybody appreciates history. Few appreciate computer science. You might become slightly isolated from friends and family, as they won't be able (or willing) to understand what you do. * Computers…
5View on Reddit

u/NULLACCOUNTin r/compsci • Mentions

On “I want to teach myself computer science. Where should I start?”

There is a video lecture series as well. (On of my favorite excepts link to this video ). I thought it was on that site but I don't see it. There is probably a torrent or something somewhere. EDIT: http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.001/abelson-sussman-lectures/ They are on the internet archive.
5View on Reddit

u/silverforestin r/compsci • Mentions

On “Would you consider Computer Science really a science?”

> Computer Science is a terrible name for this business. First of all it's not a science. It might be Engineering or it might be Art. But we will actually see that computer... so called science has a lot in common with magic, and we'll see that in this course. > So it's not a science; it's also not really very much about computers. And it's not about computers in the same sense that physics is not really about particle accelerators. And biology is not really about microscopes and Petri dishes. It's not about computers in the same sense that geometry is not really about using surveying instruments. >In fact there's a lot of commonality between computer science and geometry - geometry first…
3View on Reddit

u/NULLACCOUNTin r/compsci • Mentions

On “What exactly is computer science?”

This might be a pretty abstract answer, but it's still a good watch: link to this video
3View on Reddit

Xurinoson Hacker News • Mentions

On “Ask HN: Is computer science really a science?”

It is not a science. It is also not about computers. :) SICP lecture 1 -- link to 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…
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imaginaryuniton Hacker News • Mentions

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 link to this video ). Abelson's point about CS being more like magic has always stuck with me.
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kylebrownon Hacker News • Mentions

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. link to this video
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u/NULLACCOUNTin r/compsci • Mentions

On “What is a computer?”

One of my favorite videos on the internet (although he doesn't use the exact quote he essentially says the same thing and a lot more). SICP / What is Computer Science? (link to this video
2View on Reddit

u/sciolizerin r/compsci • Mentions

On “Ask compsci: How do you explain Computer Science?”

I always liked Abelson's explanation of it: link to this video esp. that it's not a science and it's only incidentally related to computers.
1View on Reddit

u/Haroidsin r/compsci • Mentions

On “A Coder, a Programmer, a Hacker, a Developer, and a Computer Scientist walk into a Venn Diagram”

I suppose you're right, I just don't think labeling every computer scientist as a "math person" is quite accurate, despite being an important skill to have for the field. As for "controlling complexity" that was a definition given by a lecture I watched a while back, here's a link (around 7 minutes).
1View on Reddit