COS 116: The Computational Universe - Department of Computer

19 Pages·2006·1.12 MB·English

COS 116: The
Computational
Universe
Instructor: Sanjeev Arora
COS 116: The Computational
Universe
Instructor: Sanjeev Arora (arora@cs)
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Head TA: J. Alex Halderman (jhalderm@cs)
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Preceptors:
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Umar Syed (usyed@cs)
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David Xiao (dxiao@cs)
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Labs will be held in (Friend 005)
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Mon 7-10, Tues 7-10, Wed 1:30-4:20
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This week: Take-home lab
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Ancient dream of man: (cid:147)Breathe life into matter(cid:148)
Golem (Jewish mythology) (cid:147)Automata(cid:148), (South Germany or
Spain, c. 1560)
Also,chess
automata
Frankenstein (Mary Robot
Shelley,
(Karel Capek,
1818)
1921)
(cid:147)Breathe life into matter(cid:148) (cid:150)
Another perspective
(cid:147)Breathe life into matter(cid:148) (cid:150)
A 20th century perspective
(cid:147)Matter(cid:148): Atoms, molecules, quantum
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mechanics, relativity (cid:133)
(cid:147)Life(cid:148): Cells, nucleus, DNA, RNA, (cid:133)
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(cid:147)Breath life into matter(cid:148): Computation
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One interpretation: Make matter do useful,
interesting things on its own
Computational Universe
Some important distinctions
Computer Science vs. Computer
Programming
(Java, C++, etc.)
vs. Concrete
Notion of computation
Implementations of
Computation (Silicon chips,
robots, Xbox, etc.)
No programming in this course!
Not necessary for conceptual understanding
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Gives us more time for a broader coverage of
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computer science (broader than COS126!)
No advantage to those who have prior
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programming experience
Brief history of computers /
computation
Technological:
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Clocks
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Clockwork (cid:147)Automata(cid:148)
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Mechanized looms, steam engines
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Vacuum tubes, electronic calculators (1910-1930(cid:146)s)
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ENIAC (1945)
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von Neumann Computer
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(1949, Princeton)
Brief history of computers /
computation (cont(cid:146)d)
Intellectual
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Ancient Greeks, philosophers ((cid:147)How to formalize
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thought?(cid:148))
Boolean logic (G. Boole, 1815-1864)
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Crisis in math
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Hilbert: Call to axiomatize math
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G(cid:246)del: Incompleteness theorem
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Lambda calculus (A. Church, 1936) Both at Princeton;
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Turing machines (A. Turing, 1937)
" First clear notion of
(cid:147)What is
computation?(cid:148)