This is a long long looooong text (928 page PDF) but so good. It takes its time, explains clearly, and stays well within a traditional perspective, which is what we want from a textbook. Thus we read to the end of page 68 before we have finished defining philosophy as "the personal search for truth, in any ï¬eld, by rational means." We then have another 95 pages defining 'computer science' (including some side-discussion on whether we should be drawing sharp boundaries in general, and a detailed consideration of whether computer science is a type of magic). Do look at the five key insights (pp148-149). So what is computer science? Essentially, "to capture the messy complexity of the natural world and express it algorithmically." That sets up the next question, "what is science," and so on. I don't think you could ask for more from such a text, really, not even brevity. Image: XKCD, also on p. 318.
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