Class meets MWF 1:00-1:50 in HUMN 335
Class email address: canon2000@cs.colorado.edu
Latest Update: 8/27/00
This will be a "great works" lecture-and-discussion course, focusing on readings that constitute the historical core of computer science. Authors will include Turing, Von Neumann, Goedel, Lovelace, Babbage, Boole, Leibniz, and Shannon; we will also look at more recent works by Karp, Wiener, Brooks, Papert, and Feynman, among others. These readings will be wide-ranging, and a high level of academic curiosity and mathematical fearlessness will be assumed. Students will also have the chance to suggest their own candidates for "classic" status. You should think of this course as an opportunity to encounter, think about, and discuss the ideas that have collectively formed the tradition in which you are working.
Assignments will include two short papers and a final exam. Grading will be based upon these assignments and active participation in class discussions and presentations.