The Task
To foster your understanding of computer science, its history, where we come
from, etc. you can learn about 'famous' computer scientists. These are the
people who have shaped the course of our discipline. They are our founding
fathers and mothers.
On occasion, there will be items that come up in lecture
discussions or even during lab discussions. I will attempt to remember to
add these to the list below.
The Deal
I will even give you points of extra credit for each page you write on the
computer science contributions made by any of the people in the following
list. Each paper must be at least 2 pages and no more than 5 pages. You
can write as many papers as you like during the semester. They will be
graded on accuracy, completeness, quality, and clarity. Each must be
accompanied by a set of references (which do NOT add to
the page count).
- Lady Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace
- Alan Turing
- Admiral Grace Hopper
- E.W. Dijkstra
- Donald Knuth
- Charles Babbage
- George Boole
- John Conway
- Bjarne Stroustroup
- Stephen Wolfram
- Noam Chomsky
- Alfred V. Aho
- Jeffrey D. Ullman
- Brian W. Kernighan
- Robert Pike
- Dennis S. Ritchie
- Bill Gates
- Linus Torvalds
- Alex Stepanov
- Augustus DeMorgan
- John C. Dvorak
- Alex St. John
- Niklaus Wirth
- John Carmack
- Steve Jobs
- Steve Wozniak
- Adele Goldstine
- Herman Hollerith
- John von Neumann
- John McCarthy
- John Backus
- Dan Bricklin
- Blaise Pascal
- Doug Engelbart
- James Russell
- An Wang
- Ted Hoff
- James McLurkin
- Seymour Cray
- eiπ=-1
- formatting orientation vs. operating orientation of a
hard drive
You may write papers on other famous contributors to the field of computer
science or other interesting and related
topics, as well. Simply come to me for approval on your
person/people/topic.
The Details
The following is a list of requirements your paper(s) must meet:
- 2-5 pages:
- single spaced with 35% (or less) of the 'body' space taken up by
pictures/figures
- double spaced with no pictures/figures
- page count does NOT include a title
page or list of references (both of which must be
provided, however)
- page count does NOT include a table of
contents nor an index (either of which may be provided,
if you wish)
- margins:
- not more than 1.25 inches on a side
- not less than 0.5 inches on a side
- text fonts:
- something I can read!
- not less than 8 point
- not more than 12 point
- section/heading fonts:
- something I can read!
- not less than the text font
- not more than 4 more than the text font
- style:
- readable is preferred (spelling and grammar count!)
- must have an introduction, body, and conclusion