I would say no, but a good chunk of knowledge is (though probably less is required than imagined) and if the academic methods of acquiring knowledge suit you (for many hackers they don't) then a Ph.D is a fine way to get a good chunk of knowledge. Here's Rich Hickey's recommended reading for Clojure specifically: http://www.amazon.com/Clojure-Bookshelf/lm/R3LG3ZBZS4GCTH/re... It's not exhaustive for even functional programming and design let alone the entirety of computer science, but it's certainly a good chunk of knowledge enough to do awesome work from.