Informatics as a Science

Abstract

This contribution addresses the quest for a framework for a comprehensive science of informatics as a formal theory of discrete dynamic systems, in analogy to the model of natural sciences. A variety of examples show that this endeavor is promising indeed, and that (detached) parts of it exist already. In the long run, informatics may evolve as a self-contained science, more comprehensive than nowadays Computer Science, by complementing its strong technological aspects with a consistent theoretical, mathematical basis, on an equal footing with natural sciences.