Impact
“My own conclusion is that it shortened the war by not less than two years and probably by four years … we wouldn't in fact have been able to do the Normandy Landings, even if we had left the Mediterranean aside, until at the earliest 1946, probably a bit later.”
-Sir Harry Hinsley
British Intelligence Historian
Blog 6: Computing Science & Mathematics
As we embark on reading the last textbook, it should be very obvious by now that mathematics is a core aspect of Computing Science. In fact, most Computing Science departments and disciplines have a direct foundation in the study of mathematics. Here’s a good quote summing it up from Harold Abelson: “Mathematics provides a framework for dealing precisely with notions of "what is". Computation provides a framework for dealing precisely with notions of "how to".” For this article, write about how Computing Science and Mathematics are related. (Food for thought - Read up on Theoretical Computer Science and Applied Mathematics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoretical_computer_science and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_mathematics). Things you can talk about:
- What mathematical concepts are you most interested in? How do they relate to Computing Science?
- Which algorithms do you think are most closely tied to mathematics? Which ones only make sense when applied to a computer?
- What areas of theoretical computer science do you find most interesting? Why are those interesting to you?
- What have you read in the textbooks so far that relates closely to mathematics?
- Who are some major historical figures that are important to both mathematics and Computing Science? Why do you think they are important in both fields?
