<p>Why would you need Chem 1 in a CS bachelors degree?</p>
<p>breath of science? where else will you learn quantum mechanics at the freshmen level? if you’re any kind of science major, i tihnk you should have SOME passing familiarity with QM. </p>
<p>BAs and BSs are actually more breath than depth… it doesn’t seem like it though, but it is. </p>
<p>also, be more descriptive with the titles…</p>
<p>I don’t agree with that, because the Astrophysics degree does not require any chemistry. It just doesn’t line up… then again, the Astronomy degree does require it. Funny… However I was told that the Astrophysics degree was designed to lead specifically into graduate school, but then wouldn’t it be even more important that a “terminally designed” bachelors degree such as Computer Science or Astronomy? This is how the school I am considering labels these degrees. They say that CS and Astronomy were designed as degrees capable of ending fruitfully at the bachelors level whereas the Astrophysics degree was made to prepare you for graduate studies. Maybe it is less important then? Perhaps I am over thinking this and I should just accept it for what it is. Oh well, no matter. I just need to decide on a degree already!</p>
<p>That is to say, why do we need liberal art classes? Why do we need to know history all the way since elementary school, even when we know we won’t become a historian.</p>
<p>The fact is, the society expects college graduates to have some very basic understanding of science. Science, in general. So chemistry, biology, physics, social science, whatever, you name it yourself.
Some schools requires physics, chem and biology for a CS student. Some let the students pick what they want to take for science, as long as they fulfill the credit requirements. </p>
<p>Sometime you would be surprise how these little annoying unnecessary redundant things are useful in life. Yeah, you probably won’t ever need to measure gram by gram, knowing how many moles of xxxxx are added to your coffee.</p>
<p>My issue is why it’s taught in computer science and not astrophysics when you obviously deal with much more in astrophysics while I fail to see anywhere in CS that it is useful.</p>
<p>because if you’re an astronomy or astrophysics major, you’re basically a physics major. and if you’re a physics major then you have to take quantum mechanics. (i don’t know what they teach in chem 1 at your school, but at mine, it is basically intro to quantum).
so you’ll be learning things like the Schroedinger equation anyway (obviously all the details won’t be there and you may not connected it). or the physics department will just call it atomic physics.
the point is that astrophysics majors will learn it. at a MUCH higher level.</p>
<p>what you have learned in chem1, 80% of that should have been covered in high school chemistry. </p>
<p>btw, you are making some tangent discussions, magnetic…
your first talked about chem 1, and now astrophysics?</p>
<p>At OU Astronomy and Physics both require general chemistry. Still Astrophysics does not.</p>
<p>And just to make it clear… Astrophysics, Physics, and Astronomy are three different degrees.</p>
<p>I don’t care if you do not follow my logic Jwxie, that is not my problem.</p>
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<p>You don’t but in some schools, if your CS program is part of the Engineering college and the Engineering college requires ALL majors to take Chemistry and Physics, then taking Chemistry fulfills the “engineering” requirement for science.</p>
<p>The same case can be made for why some CS programs require much more Math than others. Well, some CS programs are part of the Math department, so those CS programs will often times require more Math than the CS programs in the Engineering departments.</p>
<p>All and all…depends on the school.</p>
<p>Taking science and CS is not a bad thing. There are some pretty great jobs in programming out there that require a decent scientific background.</p>