Web science

Exciting times, reader:

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Southampton in England today [02 Nov] announced they would jointly start a new branch of science: the science of the Web.

- A Science of the Web Begins, Scientific American

Is this like watching the birth of a star or something? :)
A new branch of science...

I don't even know what the WWW is exactly, but maybe nobody does for sure, and that's the point. The Web is higgledy-piggledy, and that's the interesting thing. How is it growing? What's going on? What do we want it to become? The Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI) will be taking an interdisciplinary approach "to produce the fundamental scientific advances necessary to inform the future design and use of the World Wide Web."

Founder of said World Wide Web ... (pausing for applause - "Founder of the World Wide Web"? Bloody hell, the man is such a hero) ... Tim Berners-Lee:

All kinds of disciplines are going to have to converge. People with all kinds of skills are going to have to work together to build a new web which is going to be even better.

- Web inventor fears for the future, BBC News

Amen to that, and bravo! Heroes all: Creating a Science of the Web (follow link).