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I prefer the German word for CS. They call it 'Informatik,' because it's all about information. I agree that the terms 'science' and 'engineering' are both abu
by presidentender 16y ago
I prefer the German word for CS. They call it 'Informatik,' because it's all about information.
I agree that the terms 'science' and 'engineering' are both abused by those who seek to legitimize their disciplines in the eyes of the public.
- protomyth 16y agoI have noticed that any degree program that ends with "Science" is generally not science. "Social Science" and "Political Science" are two of the big offenders.
- regehr 16y ago"exercise science"
- spoondan 16y agoThis is an old topic. Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim, both foundational to the social sciences, each sought to bring empiricism and the scientific method to the study of social institutions. I would argue that they were largely successful and it is a shift in our modern understanding of science that questions whether Social Science is "real" science. Specifically, I think the power of mathematics as a tool for objective description of natural phenomena has given us the impression that any field without underpinning equations is soft, subjective, and inherently unscientific. Biology is Chemistry is Physics is Math, but the study of social institutions resists reduction to "hard" sciences, to the objectivity of equations. I have even seen people say that Chemistry is not science! In this view, Sociology seems inherently less legitimate than Biology. And I think that is dangerous. If this is how we are to understand science, then we are doomed to belittle and ignore the possibilities for better understanding society and intelligent behavior.
- NY_USA_Hacker 16y agoApparently until quite recently, commonly there was much more math in good sociology programs than in biology. See: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2238391 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2238391