Short answers, pulled from the story.
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. It spans theoretical disciplines such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory, and applied disciplines including the design and implementation of hardware and software. Its fundamental concern is determining what can and cannot be automated.
Wilhelm Schickard designed and constructed the first working mechanical calculator in 1623. In 1673, Gottfried Leibniz demonstrated a digital mechanical calculator called the Stepped Reckoner, and Leibniz is sometimes considered the first computer scientist and information theorist.
Computer science began to be established as a distinct academic discipline in the 1950s and early 1960s. The world's first computer science degree program, the Cambridge Diploma in Computer Science, began at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory in 1953, and the first U.S. computer science department formed at Purdue University in 1962.
Ada Lovelace wrote the first published algorithm specifically tailored for implementation on a computer. In 1843, while translating a French article on Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, she included an algorithm to compute the Bernoulli numbers.
A folkloric quotation, often attributed to but almost certainly not first formulated by Edsger Dijkstra, states that computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. A significant amount of computer science does not involve studying computers themselves, which is why alternative names such as computing science, datalogy, and informatics have been proposed.
CSAB identifies four crucial areas: theory of computation, algorithms and data structures, programming methodology and languages, and computer elements and architecture. It also names software engineering, artificial intelligence, computer networking, database systems, parallel and distributed computation, human-computer interaction, computer graphics, and operating systems as important areas.
The Turing Award is generally recognized as the highest distinction in computer science.