Examines the development of computing techniques and technology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, particularly critical evaluation of how the very idea of "computer" changes and evolves over time. Emphasis is on technical innovation, industrial development, social context, and the role of government. Topics include Babbage, Hollerith, differential analyzers, control systems, ENIAC, radar, operations research, computers as scientific instruments, the rise of "computer science," artificial intelligence, personal computers, and networks. Includes class visits by members of the MIT community who have made important historical contributions. This course focuses on one particular aspect of the history of computing: the use of the computer as a scientific instrument. The electronic digital computer was invented to do science, and its applications range from physics to mathematics to biology to the humanities. What has been the impact of computing on the practice of science? Is the computer different from other scientific instruments? Is computer simulation a valid form of scientific experiment? Can computer models be viewed as surrogate theories? How does the computer change the way scientists approach the notions of proof, expertise, and discovery? No comprehensive history of scientific computing has yet been written. This seminar examines scientific articles, participants' memoirs, and works by historians, sociologists, and anthropologists of science to provide multiple perspectives on the use of computers in diverse fields of physical, biological, and social sciences and the humanities. We explore how the computer transformed scientific practice, and how the culture of computing was influenced, in turn, by scientific applications.

A laboratory-based exploration of the principles, techniques, and applications of holography as a 3-D imaging communication medium. Begins with interference and diffraction, and proceeds through laser off-axis holography to white-light "rainbow" and reflection holography. Term project required, with oral presentation and written report. MAS.450 is a laboratory course about holography and holographic imaging. This course teaches holography from a scientific and analytical point of view, moving from interference and diffraction to imaging of single points to the display of three-dimensional images. Using a "hands-on" approach, students explore the underlying physical phenomena that make holograms work, as well as designing laboratory setups to make their own images. The course also teaches mathematical techniques that allow the behavior of holography to be understood, predicted, and harnessed. Holography today brings together the fields of optics, chemistry, computer science, electrical engineering, visualization, three-dimensional display, and human perception in a unique and comprehensive way. As such, MAS.450 offers interesting and useful exposure to a wide range of principles and ideas. As a course satisfying the Institute Laboratory Requirement, MAS.450 teaches about science, scientific research, and the scientific method through observation and exploration, hinting at the excitement that inventors feel before they put their final equations to paper.

Students learn how to program using loops and switches. They see how loops enable us to easily and efficiently tell a computer to keep repeating an operation. They also see that switches permit programs to follow different instructions based on whether or not preconditions are fulfilled. Using the LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robots, sensors and software, student pairs perform three mini programming activities using loops and switches individually, and then combined. With practice, they incorporate these tools into their programming skill sets in preparation for the associated activity. A PowerPoint® presentation, pre/post quizzes and worksheet are provided.

Building on the programming basics learned so far in the unit, students next learn how to program using sensors rather than by specifying exact durations. They start with an examination of algorithms and move to an understanding of conditional commands (until, then), which require the use of wait blocks. Working with the LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robots and software, they learn about wait blocks and how to use them in conjunction with move blocks set with unlimited duration. To help with comprehension and prepare them for the associated activity programming challenges, volunteer students act out a maze demo and student groups conclude by programming LEGO robots to navigate a simple maze using wait block programming. A PowerPoint® presentation, a worksheet and pre/post quizzes are provided.

The single most important skill for a computer scientist is problem solving. The goal of this book is to teach you to think like a computer scientist.

Python is a fun and extremely easy-to-use programming language that has steadily gained in popularity over the last few years. Developed over ten years ago by Guido van Rossum, Python's simple syntax and overall feel is largely derived from ABC, a teaching language that was developed in the 1980's. However, Python was also created to solve real problems and it borrows a wide variety of features from programming languages such as C++, Java, Modula-3, and Scheme. Because of this, one of Python's most remarkable features is its broad appeal to professional software developers, scientists, researchers, artists, and educators. 278 page pdf file.

Principles of supervisory control and telerobotics. Different levels of automation are discussed, as well as the allocation of roles and authority between humans and machines. Human-vehicle interface design in highly automated systems. Decision aiding. Tradeoffs between human control and human monitoring. Automated alerting systems and human intervention in automatic operation. Enhanced human interface technologies such as virtual presence. Performance, optimization, and social implications of the human-automation system. Examples from aerospace, ground, and undersea vehicles, robotics, and industrial systems. Human Supervisory Control of Automated Systems discusses elements of the interactions between humans and machines. These elements include: assignment of roles and authority; tradeoffs between human control and human monitoring; and human intervention in automatic processes. Further topics comprise: performance, optimization and social implications of the system; enhanced human interfaces; decision aiding; and automated alterting systems. Topics refer to applications in aerospace, industrial and transportation systems.

Students apply the design process to the problem of hiding a message in a digital image using steganographic methods, a PictureEdit Java class, and API (provided as an attachment). They identify the problems and limitations associated with this task, brainstorm solutions, select a solution, and implement it. Once their messages are hidden, classmates attempt to decipher them. Based on the outcome of the testing phase, students refine and improve their solutions.

Microsoft Excel is extremely useful for many different types of digital scholarship projects. This one looks at the ability of Excel to create time lines for historical projects using an Excel template developed for project time lines. Before starting I will warn the reader that because of the way Excel stores and handles dates, these time lines only work for dates after Jan. 1, 1900. There are some potential fixes for this that I hope to address in the future.

Most computer users have an incorrect, but useful, cognitive metaphor for computers in which the user says (or types or clicks) something and a mystical, almost intelligent or magical, behavior happens. It is not a stretch to describe computer users as believing computers follow the laws of magic, where some magic incantation is entered, and the computer responds with an expected, but magical, behavior.

This magic computer does not actually exist. In reality computer are machines, and every action a computer performs reduces to a set of mechanical operations. In fact the first complete definition of a working computer was a mechanical machine designed by Charles Babbage in 1834, and would have run on steam power.

Probably the biggest success of Computer Science (CS) in the 20th century was the development of abstractions that hide the mechanical nature of computers. The fact that average people use computers without ever considering that they are mechanistic is a triumph of CS designers.

This purpose of this monograph is to break the abstract understanding of a computer, and to explain a computer’s behavior in completely in mechanistic terms. It will deal specifically with the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the computer, as this is where the magic happens. All other parts of a computer can be seen as just providing information for the CPU to operate on.

This monograph will deal with a specific type of CPU, a one-address CPU, and will explain this CPU using only standard gates, specifically AND, OR, NOT, NAND and XOR gates, and 4 basic Integrated Circuits (ICs), the Decoder, Multiplexer, Adder, and Flip Flop. All of these gates and components can be described as mechanical transformations of input data to output data, and the overall CPU can then be seen as a mechanical device.

This innovative, trans-faculty subject teaches how information technologies (IT) are reshaping and redefining the health care marketplace through improved economies of scale, greater technical efficiencies in the delivery of care to patients, advanced tools for patient education and self-care, network integrated decision support tools for clinicians, and the emergence of e-commerce in health care. Student tutorials provide an opportunity for interactive discussion. Interdisciplinary project teams comprised of Harvard and MIT graduate students in medicine, business, law, education, engineering, computer science, public health, and government collaborate to design innovative IT applications. Projects are presented during the final class. ĺĘ Starting in Spring 2010, this course will be titled Enabling Technology Innovation in Healthcare and the Life Sciences.

This is a discussion-based, interactive seminar on the development of information and communication technology in Sub-Saharan Africa. The students will seek to understand the issues surrounding designing and instituting policy, and explore the possible ways in which they can make an impact on information and communication technology in Africa.

The course is a comprehensive introduction to the theory, algorithms and applications of integer optimization and is organized in four parts: formulations and relaxations, algebra and geometry of integer optimization, algorithms for integer optimization, and extensions of integer optimization.

Este libro es una introducción al area de la Inteligencia Artificial y presenta algunas de las aplicaciones que puede tener en la vida real en diversos campos de aplicación, El libro esta compuesto de ocho capítulos los cuales abarcan los antededentes, algunos conceptos importantes para la resolución de problemas como es la representación de conocimiento, el planteamiento de los problemas. Asimismo se menciona la teoría de agentes por un lado y por otro lo que es el aprendizaje computacional. Otra area que se aborta es la computación evolutivo y los algoritmos bioinspirados para la resolución de problemas, dandole enfasis a los problemas de optimizacion. Por ultimo se menciona una nueva tendencia en el area de las ciencias computacionales como es el uso de las GPUs para trabajar de una manera mas rapida al realizar el procesamiento en paralelo.

This course is based on the work of the MIT-African Internet Technology Initiative (MIT-AITI). MIT-AITI is an innovative approach by MIT students to integrate computers and internet technology into the education of students in African schools. The program focuses upon programming principles, cutting-edge internet technology, free open-source systems, and even an entrepreneurship seminar to introduce students in Africa to the power of information technology in today's world. MIT-AITI achieves this goal by sending MIT students to three African nations in order to teach both students and teachers through intensive classroom and lab sessions for six weeks. The AITI program is implemented with emphasis on classroom teaching, community-oriented projects, and independent learning. This course has two major components: Content from a spring 2005 preparatory seminar offered by the MIT-AITI leadership. The goal of this seminar is to adequately prepare the AITI student teachers for their upcoming summer experiences in Africa. A snapshot of the summer 2005 MIT-AITI program. This includes the Javaĺ¨-based curriculum that MIT-AITI ambassadors teach in Africa each year, as well as content from an entrepreneurship seminar offered concurrently with the IT class.

This course is intended to assist undergraduates with learning the basics of programming in general and programming MATLAB in particular.

Microcontrollers are the brains of the electronic world, but in order to play with one, you must first get it connected! For this maker challenge, students learn how to connect their Arduino microcontroller circuit boards to computers. First, students are walked through the connection process, helped to troubleshoot common pitfalls, and write their first Arduino programs (setup and loop functions, semicolons, camel case, pin 13 LED). Then they are given the open-ended challenge to create their own blinking LED code—such as writing Morse code messages and mimicking the rhythm of a heartbeat. This practice helps students become comfortable with the fundamental commands before progressing to more difficult programs.

This book introduces concepts in mobile, autonomous robotics to 3rd-4th year students in Computer Science or a related discipline. The book covers principles of robot motion, forward and inverse kinematics of robotic arms and simple wheeled platforms, perception, error propagation, localization and simultaneous localization and mapping. The cover picture shows a wind-up toy that is smart enough to not fall off a table just using intelligent mechanism design and illustrate the importance of the mechanism in designing intelligent, autonomous systems. This book is open source, open to contributions, and released under a creative common license.

Designed as a freshmen seminar course, faculty from various School of Engineering departments describe the research and educational opportunities specific to and offered by their departments. Background lectures by the 20.010J staff introduce students to the fundamental scientific basis for bioengineering. Specially produced videos provide additional background information that is supplemented with readings from newspaper and magazine articles. Bioengineering at MIT is represented by the diverse curricula offered by most Departments in the School of Engineering. This course samples the wide variety of bioengineering options for students who plan to major in one of the undergraduate Engineering degree programs. The beginning lectures describe the science basis for bioengineering with particular emphasis on molecular cell biology and systems biology. Bioengineering faculty will then describe the bioengineering options in a particular engineering course as well as the type of research conducted by faculty in the department.

This is a fast-paced introductory course to the C++ programming language. It is intended for those with little programming background, though prior programming experience will make it easier, and those with previous experience will still learn C++-specific constructs and concepts. This course is offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month.