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I admit I don't have much to go on, but it seems like biology is a full load of study, whereas at least undergraduate 'computer science' ie programming can be p

I admit I don't have much to go on, but it seems like biology is a full load of study, whereas at least undergraduate 'computer science' ie programming can be picked up by a smart person almost incidentally. I've seen that done, and I think it /is/ done more often than the other way around. As for writing /good/ code, that can come from practice and aesthetics. But knowing biology (or another science) takes real study.

plinkplonk 17y ago
I think (please correct me if I am wrong, always glad to learn) that one key difference would be that learning computer science would (mostly) need books ,the internet and the time and willingness to buckle down, while a proper study of biology would involve serious lab work, with a need for costly equipment and instructions.
Retric 17y ago
Modern biology is so specialized that learning the tools for some area is often far simpler than the track people take getting a PHD.
jerf 17y ago
Casual programming can be learned incidentally, but there is a degree of skill that can not. If you want to build large programs that actually stand a chance of being correct, or performant, you really can't just "incidentally" pick up that skill. That's in the "10 years to mastery" class (and 12 years in I'm still learning, honestly). That said, does biology really need that? Maybe the incidental skill is enough for most biologists. There is definitely a core set of tasks that biologists would need computer scientists for, though. (And for once, probably actual computer scientists and not just "good programmers".)
p_h 17y ago
The ease of learning biology depends on the level of abstraction you're aiming for. I had a summer job working in a proteomics lab during my computer engineering undergrad. My basic background knowledge of the relation between genes and proteins was good enough for me to contribute to published research. Of course you also need to learn the details of whatever experiments you're studying, but that's not too hard to pick up. Basically, progammers don't need to memorize all the amino acids to effectively contribute to bio research. You learn the details of whatever bio niche you're studying, and the rest is problem solving, analyzing and programming.

plinkplonk 17y ago

I think (please correct me if I am wrong, always glad to learn) that one key difference would be that learning computer science would (mostly) need books ,the internet and the time and willingness to buckle down, while a proper study of biology would involve serious lab work, with a need for costly equipment and instructions.

Retric 17y ago

Modern biology is so specialized that learning the tools for some area is often far simpler than the track people take getting a PHD.

jerf 17y ago

Casual programming can be learned incidentally, but there is a degree of skill that can not. If you want to build large programs that actually stand a chance of being correct, or performant, you really can't just "incidentally" pick up that skill. That's in the "10 years to mastery" class (and 12 years in I'm still learning, honestly). That said, does biology really need that? Maybe the incidental skill is enough for most biologists. There is definitely a core set of tasks that biologists would need computer scientists for, though. (And for once, probably actual computer scientists and not just "good programmers".)

p_h 17y ago

The ease of learning biology depends on the level of abstraction you're aiming for. I had a summer job working in a proteomics lab during my computer engineering undergrad. My basic background knowledge of the relation between genes and proteins was good enough for me to contribute to published research. Of course you also need to learn the details of whatever experiments you're studying, but that's not too hard to pick up. Basically, progammers don't need to memorize all the amino acids to effectively contribute to bio research. You learn the details of whatever bio niche you're studying, and the rest is problem solving, analyzing and programming.