On Computing: The Fourth Great Scientific Domain

by Paul S. Rosenbloom

Computing is not simply about hardware or software, or calculation or applications. Computing, writes Paul Rosenbloom, is an exciting and diverse, yet remarkably coherent, scientific enterprise that is highly multidisciplinary yet maintains a unique core of its own. In On Computing , Rosenbloom proposes that computing is a great scientific domain on a par with the physical, life, and social sciences. Rosenbloom introduces a relational approach for understanding computing, conceptualizing it in terms of forms of interaction and implementation, to reveal the hidden structures and connections among its disciplines. He argues for the continuing vitality of computing, surveying the leading edge in computing's combination with other domains, from biocomputing and brain-computer interfaces to crowdsourcing and virtual humans to robots and the intermingling of the real and the virtual. He explores forms of higher order coherence, or macrostructures, over complex computing topics and organizations. Finally, he examines the very notion of a great scientific domain in philosophical terms, honing his argument that computing should be considered the fourth great scientific domain. With On Computing , Rosenbloom, a key architect of the founding of University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies and former Deputy Director of USC's Information Sciences Institute, offers a broader perspective on what computing is and what it can become.

Genres: Computer Science

307 pages, Hardcover

First published November 6, 2012

Reviews

[Lylance · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was forced to buy this book as part of our CS course. Worse class+ professor total waste of time.

[Mustufa Kerawala · Rating 1 out of 5]

A treatise on why computing and its scientific domain is much more important than it actually is.. The Author is quite repetitive and the book is quite bland even for a nerd like me

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty boring, but necessary to understand his view on the relational approach to computing including both implementation and interaction. Also interesting to see his views on the reasons why computing should be considered the fourth scientific domain.

[Alexi Parizeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book isn't very exciting to read, nor is it very relevant to most people. But for someone contemplating the place of computation within science and academia, this book delivers some genuinely powerful insights (plus a good dose of technical content).

First Reading: Feb 7-9 2015

[Geoff Teale · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting, formal, exploration of the idea that computing is the fourth great domain of science. Well argued. Perhaps a little dry.

[Yousif · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't!