Many aspects of our lives are affected in some way by computer-based information processing, as we shop, bank, work, play, learn, and communicate with others. Yet this revolution in the way we carry out our daily life is a mystery to most people because the underlying computation occurs out of our immediate view.

This course peels away the mystery of computing in the popular imagination. It provides an historical perspective on the nature and impact of ongoing change in all the technologies surrounding modern computing, particularly the convergence of computing, microelectronics and communication technologies. It shows how simple the underlying physical and logical mechanisms are, yet how complex the process of transforming a real-life problem into a computer-based solution can be.