When you first hear computer science, you probably picture glowing screens, lines of code, and high-tech hardware.
But as one MIT professor began his legendary lecture:
Computer science is a terrible name for this business.
He wasn’t joking. Computer science isn’t really about computers, and it’s not exactly a science either.
To understand why, let’s take a short trip back to ancient Egypt.
The Geometry Parallel: Measuring the Earth
Thousands of years ago, the Egyptian priesthood invented geometry to restore farmland boundaries after the Nile’s floods.
The word geometry literally means “measuring the Earth,” from Gaia (Earth) and metron (measure).
To the Egyptians, geometry was about tools—ropes, stakes, and sighting instruments.
But when we look back now, we see something much greater:
they were beginning to formalize ideas about space and shape—the foundation of modern mathematics.
Their true contribution wasn’t in their tools, but in the abstractions they built from them.
The Same Confusion, Replayed in the Digital Age
Today, we fall into the same trap.
We think computer science is about the machines on our desks or the languages we type in.
But those are merely the surveying instruments of our era.
Just as geometry evolved beyond measuring land, computer science will evolve beyond managing hardware.
The computer is a tool, a powerful one, but not the essence of the discipline.
When a field is young, it’s easy to mistake the instrument for the idea.
So What Is Computer Science About?
At its heart, computer science is the study of processes—formal ways of doing things.
Where mathematics formalizes what is true, computer science formalizes how to do something.
Think of it this way:
- Math expresses truths.
- Computer science expresses procedures.
When we design an algorithm, we’re not just giving a computer instructions.
We’re creating a precise, shareable language for expressing processes—recipes for computation, reasoning, and creativity.
From Measuring Earth to Measuring Thought
Geometry taught humans how to describe space; computer science teaches us how to describe thought.
Both began as practical crafts—geometry with land surveying, computer science with calculating machines—and both evolved into deep, abstract frameworks for understanding the world.
One day, people may look back at us, the “primitive programmers” of the early 21st century, and say:
They were fiddling with gadgets called computers,
but what they were really doing was learning to describe how processes work.
That’s not just science, it’s a new kind of philosophy.
Key Takeaway
Computer science isn’t about computers any more than astronomy is about telescopes.
It’s about understanding the nature of processes—learning to describe how things happen so precisely that even a machine can perform them.
Next in the Series:
Post 2 – Magic, Spells, and Lisp: The Language of Processes
We’ll explore why programming feels a lot like sorcery, how procedures act as “spells” that direct invisible processes, and why Lisp became the perfect language for this new kind of magic.