upvote
By the same argument, it's mathematics because John Conway was a mathematician, and it's physics because Ulam and Von Neumann were physicists.
reply
reply
And that's my point; it's okay to create new names for sub-disciplines, as Wolfram is doing here. Because that's what we have been doing since the days of Aristotle.
reply
Aristotle is the founder of biology:

https://youtu.be/kz7DfbOuvOM

reply
These are computer scientists:

https://youtu.be/wQbFkAkThGk

reply
I think this is 'Reaction-diffusion models'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction%E2%80%93diffusion_sys...

The idea iiuc, is that pattern formation in animals depends on molecules diffusing through the growing system (the body) and reacting where the waves of molecules overlap.

reply
To me , the 1952 paper is very important, since it shows up in theoretical biology a lot. Seeing generality at all these different emergence levels is really exciting to me. (and it makes me sad when others don't see it). Can you imagine? Set up a few gradients, and now you have coordinates. Put all the bits where they're supposed to go like uhhh... GLSL sort of loosly fits. How cool is THAT?

More recently I've gotten into all sorts of debates on HN by people who like Searle. Often the argument goes "Turing is all wrong, he knows nothing about biology."

Turns out towards the end of his life he was applying his knowledge to biology. Most of which experimentally verified, besides!

(ps. just to be sure: Never wondered how DNA encodes the trick? You started out as a clump of cells, all the same. How did one part decide to become the tip of your nose, and the other the tips of your toes? Segmentation controlled by Turing patterns all the way down!)

reply
Alan Turing is FAR from the first computer scientist, though, if we want to be pedantic
reply
Right. is "the basic science of what simple rules do" not the same as Formal systems?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_system

reply
It's not Formal Systems.

Formal Systems is the study of logical systems themselves.

Ruliology is a study of what actual systems do.

It's doing the arithmetic computations and looking at the results, not the abstract algebra.

reply
It is generative functions. Wolfram is grifting again.
reply