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Course Info

  • Course Number / Code:
  • STS.035 (Spring 2004) 
  • Course Title:
  • The History of Computing 
  • Course Level:
  • Undergraduate 
  • Offered by :
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
    Massachusetts, United States  
  • Department:
  • Science, Technology, and Society 
  • Course Instructor(s):
  • Prof. Slava Gerovitch 
  • Course Introduction:
  •  


  • STS.035 The History of Computing



    Spring 2004




    Course Highlights


    This course features a complete set of downloadable assignments, sample student work for all weekly reading response papers and sample final papers.


    Course Description


    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.

    *Some translations represent previous versions of courses.

     

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
This course content is a redistribution of MIT Open Courses. Access to the course materials is free to all users.






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