COMP 105 Transformational Ideas in Computing from the United Kingdom

An introduction to the foundations of computing, both in terms of theory and early implementations. This course will focus on the fundamental differences between computers and any other electrical or mechanical machines. Students in this course will spend 21 days in the United Kingdom visiting important sites related to the development of computers and learn how these advances lead to the modern computer.
Students will learn about the principal contributions of Dr. Alan Turing and Dr. John Von Neumann on developing the both the theory and engineering of computing. Participants will attend lectures covering an overview of the theory of computation, Turing machines, and the synthesis of computers from digital logic circuits. Students will visit sites in Milton Keynes, Cambridge, London, and Edinburgh to view early programmable mechanical and electronic machines, such as Babbage’s Difference Engine, the Jacquard Loom, and the Bombe and Colossus computers made famous by Turing.