Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers?

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From	rbowman <bowman@montana.com>
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Subject	Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers?
Date	4 Sep 2026 18:37:45 GMT
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On Fri, 04 Sep 2026 12:56:59 GMT, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

> On 2026-09-04, Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> wrote:
> 
>> Does computer science need computers?  This is just abominable click
>> bait.
>>
>> What we now practice as "computer science" is totally grounded in
>> computers,
>> be they digital, ternary, or something else.
> 
> I dropped out of computer science because it was too theoretical.
> At the time, computer science was a subsidiary of the math department; 
it
> didn't become a department in its own right until after I was gone.

In the '60s RPI didn't have a CS program. That wasn't unusual. I think 
Dartmouth may have been the first. RIT also had one of the early programs. 
FORTRAN was viewed as a tool to be used by engineers and scientists in 
their careers. It was taught by the math department. I think that was 
because they didn't know what else to do with it.

https://news.mit.edu/2026/how-mit-research-project-became-global-
programming-language-0831

I don't know anything about Julia but I found the idea of a language 
designed for users in other fields interesting, sort of going back to 
FORTRAN as a tool. 

I once worked with a chemist who used FORTRAN. It wasn't elegant code but 
it got the job done. I'm certainly not a PhD chemist but I could see what 
he was doing and adapt his code for production, hopefully with a better 
structure.

Thread

OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-04 02:20 +0000
  Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-09-04 03:17 +0000
    Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-09-04 12:56 +0000
      Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-09-04 14:44 +0100
        Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-04 18:48 +0000
      Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-09-04 16:00 +0000
        Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-09-04 23:19 +0000
          Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-09-05 00:59 +0000
          Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-09-05 01:26 +0000
            Intel and IEEE 754 (was: Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers?) Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-09-05 03:06 +0100
              Re: Intel and IEEE 754 (was: Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers?) Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-09-05 02:27 +0000
            Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-09-05 03:25 -0400
              Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-05 17:56 +0000
          Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-09-05 21:30 +0000
            Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-09-05 22:38 +0000
              Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-09-06 01:59 +0000
              Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-06 03:08 +0000
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-09-06 03:51 +0000
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-09-06 06:43 +0000
            Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-09-06 02:43 +0000
      Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-04 18:37 +0000
        Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-09-04 21:20 -0400
          Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-09-05 01:40 +0000
          Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-05 03:46 +0000
            Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-09-05 03:36 -0400
              Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-05 18:09 +0000
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-09-05 19:23 +0100
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-06 02:49 +0000
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-09-06 03:51 +0000
      Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-09-04 22:36 +0000
      Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-09-06 06:50 +0000
        Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-09-07 04:14 -0400
          Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-09-07 12:05 +0100
            Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-09-07 09:17 -0400
              Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-09-07 15:02 +0100
              Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-07 19:16 +0000
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-09-07 22:26 +0100
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-09-08 04:18 +0000
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-08 04:38 +0000
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-09-08 05:43 +0000
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-09-09 04:25 +0000
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-09-09 09:35 +0100
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-09-07 18:58 -0400
                Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-08 04:47 +0000
            Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-09-14 17:18 +0000
  Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-09-05 02:50 +0100
    Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-09-05 08:37 +0100
      Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-09-05 10:20 +0100
        Re: OT: Does Computer Science Need Computers? rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-09-05 18:31 +0000

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