Now, something really à côté de la plaque... Jack Henahan terminates his useful advice addressed to A. Coppin:
Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. -- Edsger Dijkstra This citation makes me think, and since this became rare, I share it.
* It is unsourced, repeated without discernment, and Dijkstra cannot confirm (or deny) it any more. Somehow I cannot believe he said that... * Dijkstra began to study physics, and a physicist would be reluctant to make such puns. Why? o Astronomy, and physics are not only theories of galaxies or superfluids, but also methodologies of data acquisition and data processing. Telescopes evolve with our knowledge of the visible universe, as the accelerators evolve with our knowledge of elementary particles. You have to know where to look! And how to interpret the raw, experimental data. o So, whether you call it Informatique, Datalogi, or whatever, it is */also/* about computers. Do you really think that the algorithmics, the thory of parallel computation, etc., have nothing to do with concrete implementations? * These among you who touched just a bit of astronomy, should know what a horrendous amount of "truly astronomical" knowledge is necessary to make the telescope work! For example to synchronize it with the earth movement... * This citation seems to be a savant variant of: "The Fool Looks At The Finger That Points To The Sky" case... OK, if you wish. But I had an occasion to sit near a beautiful girl who pointed her hand and her eyes in the direction of wonderful Zodiac constellations; it was midnight in the mountains. I don't remember the details, but without being a fool, I didn't look at the stars... (Well, actually I was a fool, but it is a long story). Jerzy Karczmarczuk Caen, France