Dijkstra examines what computing science should be, distinguishing its academic purpose from the commercial, economic and philosophical interests surrounding computers. He questions expectations that computing will solve all of society’s problems, comparing these hopes with past quests for limitless wealth and eternal youth.

He argues that computing can become a viable academic discipline only as an unusually formal branch of mathematics. Its emphasis should be on methods of reasoning rather than accumulated facts, with no significant division between pure and applied work. He anticipates that this approach could reshape mathematics itself.

The essay presents mathematical elegance as essential to successful computing. Dijkstra argues that simplicity demands effort and education, but that commercial pressures and academic rewards often favour complexity. He criticises incentives that recognise the introduction of complicated concepts more readily than their removal, and encourages researchers to find satisfaction in the work of simplification.