Computer science and Related Topics

Computer network

Set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes.

Fiber optic cables are used to transmit light from one computer/network node to another

2007 map showing submarine optical fiber telecommunication cables around the world.

Computers are very often connected to networks using wireless links

An ATM network interface in the form of an accessory card. A lot of network interfaces are built-in.

A typical home or small office router showing the ADSL telephone line and Ethernet network cable connections

The TCP/IP model and its relation to common protocols used at different layers of the model.

Message flows between two devices (A-B) at the four layers of the TCP/IP model in the presence of a router (R). Red flows are effective communication paths, black paths are across the actual network links.

Routing calculates good paths through a network for information to take. For example, from node 1 to node 6 the best routes are likely to be 1-8-7-6, 1-8-10-6 or 1-9-10-6, as these are the shortest routes.

Partial map of the Internet, based on the January 15, 2005 data found on opte.org . Each line is drawn between two nodes, representing two IP addresses. The length of the lines is indicative of the delay between those two nodes. This graph represents less than 30% of the Class C networks reachable.

Computer networking may be considered a branch of computer science, computer engineering, and telecommunications, since it relies on the theoretical and practical application of the related disciplines.

Computational science

Algorithms (numerical and non-numerical): mathematical models, computational models, and computer simulations developed to solve science (e.g., biological, physical, and social), engineering, and humanities problems

CSE should neither be confused with pure computer science, nor with computer engineering, although a wide domain in the former is used in CSE (e.g., certain algorithms, data structures, parallel programming, high-performance computing), and some problems in the latter can be modeled and solved with CSE methods (as an application area).

A phrenological mapping of the brain – phrenology was among the first attempts to correlate mental functions with specific parts of the brain although it is now widely discredited.

Philosophy of mind

Branch of philosophy that studies the ontology and nature of the mind and its relationship with the body.

René Descartes' illustration of mind/body dualism.

Portrait of René Descartes by Frans Hals (1648)

Four varieties of dualism. The arrows indicate the direction of the causal interactions. Occasionalism is not shown.

The classic Identity theory and Anomalous Monism in contrast. For the Identity theory, every token instantiation of a single mental type corresponds (as indicated by the arrows) to a physical token of a single physical type. For anomalous monism, the token–token correspondences can fall outside of the type–type correspondences. The result is token identity.

John Searle—one of the most influential philosophers of mind, proponent of biological naturalism (Berkeley 2002)

Since the 1980s, sophisticated neuroimaging procedures, such as fMRI (above), have furnished increasing knowledge about the workings of the human brain, shedding light on ancient philosophical problems.

These approaches have been particularly influential in the sciences, especially in the fields of sociobiology, computer science (specifically, artificial intelligence), evolutionary psychology and the various neurosciences.

Representation of the expression (8-6)*(3+1) as a Lisp tree, from a 1985 Master's Thesis.

Computer algebra

RischIntegration.PNG of the algebraic function

In mathematics and computer science, computer algebra, also called symbolic computation or algebraic computation, is a scientific area that refers to the study and development of algorithms and software for manipulating mathematical expressions and other mathematical objects.

Informatics

Study of computational systems, especially those for data storage and retrieval.

According to ACM Europe and Informatics Europe, informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which the central notion is transformation of information.

Efficient solutions to the vehicle routing problem require tools from combinatorial optimization and integer programming.

Applied mathematics

A numerical solution to the heat equation on a pump casing model using the finite element method.

Fluid mechanics is often considered a branch of applied mathematics and mechanical engineering.

Mathematical finance is concerned with the modelling of financial markets.

The Brown University Division of Applied Mathematics is the oldest applied math program in the U.S.

Applied mathematics has substantial overlap with statistics.

Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry.

Information engineering (field)

Engineering discipline that deals with the generation, distribution, analysis, and use of information, data, and knowledge in systems.

An example of clustering in machine learning.

An example of how the 2D Fourier transform can be used to remove unwanted information from an X-ray scan.

Many of these originate from computer science, as well as other branches of engineering such as computer engineering, electrical engineering, and bioengineering.

Alan Turing: computer scientist and namesake developer of the Turing test as a method of measuring the intelligence of a machine

Computational linguistics

Interdisciplinary field concerned with the computational modelling of natural language, as well as the study of appropriate computational approaches to linguistic questions.

Joseph Weizenbaum: former MIT professor and computer scientist who developed ELIZA, a primitive computer program utilizing natural language processing.

In general, computational linguistics draws upon linguistics, computer science, artificial intelligence, mathematics, logic, philosophy, cognitive science, cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, anthropology and neuroscience, among others.

Arithmetic tables for children, Lausanne, 1835

Computation

Any type of arithmetic or non-arithmetic calculation that follows a well-defined model .

An especially well-known discipline of the study of computation is computer science.

Stephen Kettle's slate statue of Alan Turing at Bletchley Park

Turing Award

The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science.