Ergalics: A Natural Science of Computation
Richard Thomas Snodgrass · 2009
If computer science is to truly become a “science, ” as Newell, Perlis, and Simon originally conceived, then it must integrate three equally ascendant perspectives: mathematics, science, and engineering. The scientific perspective can help us to understand computational tools and computation itself, through the articulation of enduring, technology-independent principles that uncover new approaches and identify technology-independent limitations. This reorientation will yield an understanding of the tool developers and the tool users and will thus enable refinements and new tools that are more closely aligned with the innate abilities and limitations of those developers and users. Incorporating the scientific perspective, to augment the mathematical and engineering perspectives, necessitates that the discipline study different phenomena, seek a different understanding of computation, ask different questions, use different evaluative strategies, and interact in different ways with other disciplines. Doing so will add wonder, engagement, and excitement to our discipline. 1