Thomas A. Easton
Abstract
Algorithmic thinking is transforming both the descriptive sciences and the humanities, bringing them all closer to the mathematical core of computer science.
- Anderson, C. and Balch, T., Eds. Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on the Mathematics and Algorithms of Social Insects (Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Dec. 15--17, 2003); www.insects.gatech.edu/MASI2003_published_proceedings.pdf.Google Scholar
- Bell, E.T. The Handmaiden of the Sciences. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD, 1937.Google Scholar
- Einstein, A. Ideas and Opinions. Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1954.Google Scholar
- Kainen, P. Is the four-color theorem true? Geombinatorics 3 (1993), 41--56.Google Scholar
- Rashevsky, N. The History of the Committee on Mathematical Biology of the University of Chicago (typescript), 1963.Google Scholar
- Rashevsky, N. Mathematical biology. Connecticut Medicine 25 (1961), 176.Google Scholar
Index Terms
- Beyond the algorithmization of the sciences
Recommendations
Profiles of monograph authors in the social sciences and humanities: an analysis of productivity, career stage, co-authorship, disciplinary affiliation and gender, based on a regional bibliographic database
Scholarly monograph authors are compared to other authors, based on bibliographic data registered in the VABB-SHW database from Flanders (Belgium). Monograph authors are found to be most often established male researchers with high productivity, who are ...
Mendeley readership altmetrics for the social sciences and humanities: Research evaluation and knowledge flows
Although there is evidence that counting the readers of an article in the social reference site, Mendeley, may help to capture its research impact, the extent to which this is true for different scientific fields is unknown. In this study, we compare ...
Scholarly publications beyond pay-walls: increased citation advantage for open publishing
First, we aim to determine the total amount of scholarly articles freely available on the internet. Second, we aim to prove whether there exists a citation advantage for open publishing. The total scholarly publication output of Norway is indexed in ...
Reviews
Molisa D. Derk
Easton's primary theme in this essay is that those sciences that were previously regarded as "soft" (though some would disagree with his list of the soft sciences) are becoming "harder" because of the use of computing in those fields. Briefly, in order to write simulation software for any field, algorithms are needed, and the creation of these algorithms, by its nature, will "harden" the science. While Easton doesn't seem to think that an algorithm is actually mathematics, he maintains that it is close enough to "drag" the field "closer to the throne" of mathematics, the queen of the sciences. The essay concludes that, if these sciences now require algorithmic thinking, computing courses will be needed for the education of those studying these sciences. Though many would disagree with the details, the essay's main point is valid and thought provoking. However, this begs the question: When a field is "dragged to the throne," what, if anything, is left behind__?__ Online Computing Reviews Service
Access critical reviews of Computing literature here
Become a reviewer for Computing Reviews.
Comments