Forget Math to Become a Great Computer Scientist?

Coryoth writes "A new book is trying to claim that computer science is better off without maths. The author claims that early computing pioneers such as Von Neumann and Alan Turing imposed their pure mathematics background on the field, and that this has hobbled computer science ever since. He rejects the idea of algorithms as a good way to think about software. Can you really do computer science well without mathematics? And would you want to?"

Re:I am able

[Anonymous Coward]

Correction, make that minus one.

Without computers, maths...

[mastermemorex]

I ok. Let me see if I am able to solve the Navier Stokes equations for unstady flows without the help of a computer. And the Schrodinger equation using a tridimensional net?

Buahhh! ha, ha!

Re:I am able

[smittyoneeach]

You were off by 19787949 - 1 = 19787948 in your calculation.
However aren't they all integers, and therefore morally equivalent?

Re:As if computer science wasn't stunted enough

[Dogtanian]

COMPUTING IS HARD.

Are you Teen Talk Barbie by any chance?

Re:Porn

[supersat]

Just as porn relies on math, math (or at least image compression research) relies on porn [cmu.edu].

It's a symbiotic relationship.

Re:Damn straight!

[eclectro]

No maths means more girls. Hey, I'm all for it.

Re:Math not essential - Logic is!

[jrsumm]

Good call on the communication minor... that's where the girls are.

Re:Some people shouldn't code production systems

[Splab]

I bet you couldn't identify a NP hard problem if it came up and ate all your CPU cycles.

Re:Damn straight!

[sanman2]

Bah -- "more", "less" -- these concepts are so mathematically antiquated.

Re:He has no idea what math is

[jbengt]

1. Define the math of computer science as algorithms.
2. Narrowly define algorithms so that they don't include all computer expressions.
3. Proclaim that computer science doesn't need math.
4. ????
5. Profit!!

Re:wahay!

[theshowmecanuck]

ya... and we wouldn't have had the mouse without apple
what... the mouse was invented BEFORE apple???? gasp
:-p

Re:wahay!

[smilindog2000]

Ha! I guess that's why I like to see all the variable declarations at the top of a function, and some kind of comment above that. I've also seen recipes with goto statements. I guess you could call it a spaghetti recipe? :-P

Re:Computer Science without math...

[itwerx]

Heh, not to reply to myself, but to reply to myself, this is the quote at the bottom of the page right now:

"A word to the wise: a credentials dicksize war is usually a bad idea on the net." (David Parsons in c.o.l.development.system, about coding in C.)

Rather apt I think!