cw (06/16/82)
The description by Kuhn of what is a science is certainly interesting
and it may well be that computer science is in its pre-paridigmatic
days. However, let me suggest that
1) "Science" as a suffix sometimes indicates that the subject is
a branch of engineering with a rich history and some serious
research remaining to be done. "Military science" is clearly
such a field.
2) "Science" sometimes indicates that the subject is a subbranch
of a larger field but that there is no good name from latin or
greek for it. Thus "Computer science" falls under mathematics,
but "computerology" and "computology" never really sounded right.
This naming phenomenon happens often with "theory", as in
"number theory", "decision theory", "game theory", ...
Further, Kuhn may be describing experimental as opposed to descriptive
science. Mathematics does not likely fit his structure and I don't
know if it is a science, but I sure wish computer science were more
like mathematics (because of the obvious intellectual worth of
mathematics, not because of the subjects studied).
Charles