"Hal E. Fulton" wrote:
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dossy" <dossy / panoptic.com>
> To: "ruby-talk ML" <ruby-talk / ruby-lang.org>
> Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 2:34 PM
> Subject: Re: OT:is software eng an art?
> 
> > If it were art, it'd be called "software artistry" not "software
> > engineering."  Q.E.D.  ;-)
> For that matter (much as it pains me to admit it), "computer
> science" is not a science... it's a branch of engineering. (I
> hate to admit it because I started out in physics, the purest

Nice to know I not the only physicist (albeit no longer working in that
field) around here...
But, in spite of being a physicist, some would claim mathematics to be the
purest science of all - or even philosophy (one of my teachers had the
opinion of math beloning more to philosophy than to the natural sciences -
after all what the heck is _natural_ about math?)

> science of all, and we always thought that engineers were a
> bunch of dimwitted hacks who wanted to memorize formulae
> instead of understanding principles).

But then some parts of physics are _very_ near to engineering and/or art -
but pobably not to both at the same time.
I once made tips for some kind of 'surface scanning device' following the
advice given in a paper called 
"The Art and Science and Other Aspects of Making Sharp Tips" (Allan J.
Melmed, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 9(2), 601 (1991)

> As an aside: Much of what has been said about "art" in this
> thread I don't consider really true. Some of it is a reflection of
> twentieth century thought which is sometimes a little out in
> left field. For example, I don't agree that art doesn't require
> discipline. I don't agree that it is always subjective and amenable
> to multiple interpretations. And I don't agree with the artist who
> once said, "Isn't the purpose of art to shock people?" Pish and tush!
> The purpose is creativity, beauty, and truth (any of which may
> sometimes be shocking, of course).

I woulnd't consider this true either. As I would (likely) do with _any_
definition of art, btw.

Happy debating,

Stephan, 
Software Engineer, Physicist and - you guess it:  Artist  :-)