2020-21 Academic Catalog

In the mid-1800s, Charles Babbage's analytical engine, inspired by programmable looms, was the first conception of an automated programmable computing device. A century later, British researchers built some of the first physical computers---particularly WWII-era code-breaking work, and programmable machines developed immediately after the war. We will explore those two eras, through historical writings (including Babbage and Ada Lovelace, who wrote programs for the analytical engine, and Alan Turing) and visits to relevant museums and archives. We will also study some of the more recent history of computing, particularly the major advances in the 1960s and 1970s. Prerequisite: Computer Science 201 and 202 (Math 236 will be accepted in lieu of Computer Science 202)