
I feel I should warn you: You won’t find any computers in this
book. If the idea of a computer science book without computers
upsets you, please close your eyes until you’ve finished reading
the rest of this page.
The truth is that computer science isn’t really about the computer.
The computer is just a tool to help you see ideas more
clearly. You can see the moon and stars without a telescope,
smell the flowers without a fluoroscope, have fun without a
funoscope, and be silly sans oscilloscope.
You can also play with computer science without you-knowwhat.
Ideas are the real stuff of computer science. This book is
about those ideas and how to find them. In fact, most of the
characters, places, and thingamajigs in Userland are actually
based on those ideas. Check out the Field Guide at the back of
the book to learn more about them!