I've searched book sellers for a book about understanding what programming is based on (theory, how, why it works, etc.). I've recently started a book about Python for 'beginners', but the author has lost me on page 105. What would this topic be called? Who writes about it?
You don't say which book you're currently reading or what you're having problems understanding. It might also be useful to try and help you with that.
I just heard Raymond Hettinger say that programming is making new words to make computers easier to use. That's basically our whole job he says.
Merriam-Webster says: Definition of programming: the process of instructing or learning by means of an instructional program.
We instruct the machine about what to do with the information provided.