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This course will explore some of the important milestones in the history
of computing. This will include mathematical, logical, technological and commercial developments,
the people who made them, and their historical context and impact.
Technical topics will include pre-electronic computing, electronic analog
and digital computers, computer networking, personal computers, computing
theory, programming languages, operating systems, and applications.
Personalities will include people such as Charles Babbage, Ada Augusta
Byron, Herman Hollerith, Alan Turing, John von Neumann, Grace Murray Hopper
and others.
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The course will be conducted as a research and a substantial writing component (SWC)
course.
It will not be a course in memorizing historical facts. The instructor
will provide an overall historical framework. Students will expand
on that framework by conducting independent historical research, writing
reports of their findings, and discussing those findings in class.
This class is expected to
be a learning experience for both students and instructor.
If you
want to make a good impression, turn in a well-written report
that tells me something I don't already know. Just please
make it something about the history of computing!
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