[jmartrican]

Honest question here, how much of the CS theories play a role in the history of the practical computers we use today? For example, if we play back the history of the the modern computers that we use from a perspective of the CPU (with its instruction set), RAM, disk, high level languages, and operating systems... do they have a foundation in CS theories? Or do these constructs come from a more practical engineering basis, void of theory?

[jecel]

Many theories were developed after the practical implementations. It is really hard to separate the two. Relational databases, for example, is a case where the theory came first. But would have that been created without the experience of using hierarchical databases?