tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16984363.post113037516557373518..comments2023-04-04T01:08:34.794-07:00Comments on Siva's Glob of Thoughts: Three comments on "selling science"D. Sivakumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05750992965116762335noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16984363.post-1130447875110322162005-10-27T14:17:00.000-07:002005-10-27T14:17:00.000-07:00Oops, that last line should have ended with a big ...Oops, that last line should have ended with a big smiley, for those who don't appreciate my sense of humor. (My kids interrupted. :) )Michael Mitzenmacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738274256402616703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16984363.post-1130446666701090622005-10-27T13:57:00.000-07:002005-10-27T13:57:00.000-07:00I both agree and disagree with some of your points...I both agree and disagree with some of your points.<BR/><BR/>I disagree to the extent that I have found other areas of computer science increasingly open to theory. In my "practial area" -- networks -- there is now a tremendous appreciation for the power of theoretical results to make sure you solve the problem right. In search and security, also, algorithmic knowledge seems highly appreciated. In this way, I think theory has come a long way in the last decade.<BR/><BR/>I agree, however, we could do an even better job of outreach, particularly to undergraduate and graduate students. The idea behind "Algorithms at the End of the Wire" (and thank you muchly for the plug!) was that I wanted to create a theory course that would be interesting and meaningful to non-theorists as well as theorists, so it was designed with the non-theorist in mind. There is a downside -- it's of course not as "deep" as a "pure theory" course, which apparently makes it popular for fulfilling the graduate theory requirement. The upside is that the course is very popular, it succeeds in getting non-theorists to think about and use theory, and it builds bridges to other parts of CS. I think EVERY DEPARTMENT should have a course like this, meant specifically to cover advanced/new theory but designed more for the non-theorist. <BR/><BR/>If it gets to be a popular enough idea, I'll write a textbook...Michael Mitzenmacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738274256402616703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16984363.post-1130381482659782912005-10-26T19:51:00.000-07:002005-10-26T19:51:00.000-07:00Welcome to the blogosphere, siva !regarding your p...Welcome to the blogosphere, siva !<BR/><BR/>regarding your point about convincing other CS folk to appreciate TCS, this is very true. I was attempting to initiate a discussion on the FOCS panel at the lab lunch table, and people found it funny that I was concerned about telling the layman about TCS, when they felt that even other CS folks didn't quite "get" TCS as well.Suresh Venkatasubramanianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15898357513326041822noreply@blogger.com