Bill Gates treating the world like a computer optimization problem. First profile the world (program) and construct suitable benchmarks. Figure out some reasonable goals and test if your various health care and education programs affect the benchmark results.
As Gates points out in the article, these techniques existed before computers. So I agree given Gates's background, he is probably applying what he learned from computers to wider problems. But in the grand scheme of things, computer science adopted these techniques from other disciplines.
I don't think optimization of the world is exactly science. Science is about the acquisition of knowledge. Understanding what causes Polio is science, how it spreads, etc. Changing the world in such a way as to get rid of Polio strikes me as something different, not sure what. For example studying global warming is science, but injecting particles into the stratosphere to cool things down would be a step further.
The "optimization" characterization was invented by "aramadia". You can't assume that premise if you want to make a valid argument against the characterization of Bill Gates's method as science.
Granted, so let's put optimization out of the picture. I still claim what Gates is doing is more than unqualified "science".
I suppose it is "applied science" but that seems like a weak term. My point is just there is a difference between acquiring knowledge about the world, and actively engineering change in that same world. He is doing both.
It's not rigorous science, it's informal science. The sort of science you do when you discover and investigate the source of a leak in your plumbing fixtures.
It may not be ideal but there's still a lot more value to it than just throwing up your hands and dismissing the problem as un-explainable/impossible to solve.
