Contributions of Theoretical Computer Science

The SIGACT Long Range Planning Committee developed, with a lot of help from the community, a statement about the importance of theoretical computer science. Justifications for this effort are given below:
  1. By developing such a statement we will codify our thoughts about who we are and what our role is in the computer science community.
  2. The finished document will give us all something to say when we are asked by our colleagues ``Why Theoretical Computer Science?'' The point is not that each of is incapable of making up a reasonable answer, but that it is important for us all to give pretty much the same answer. The more we appear to speak with one voice, the more credible our comments will appear to people outside of theory.
The statement is available in hypertext and postscript format.
Created for SIGACT by Ian Parberry.
Last updated Tue Dec 2 13:59:33 CST 1997.