Computer Science 116 The Computational Universe   Spring 2010

Princeton University Computer Science Department

Course Summary

Computers have brought the world to our fingertips. We will try to understand at a basic level the science -- old and new -- underlying this new Computational Universe. Our quest takes us on a broad sweep of scientific knowledge and related technologies: propositional logic of the ancient Greeks (microprocessors); quantum mechanics (silicon chips); network and system phenomena (internet and search engines); computational intractability (secure encryption); and efficient algorithms (genomic sequencing). Ultimately, this study makes us look anew at ourselves -- our genome; language; music; "knowledge"; and, above all, the mystery of our intelligence. This course satisfies Princeton's Science and Technology (with Lab) distribution requirement.

Administrative Information

Time and Location:

• Lecture: Tues and Thurs, 1:30pm - 2:50pm, Friend Center room 004
• Lab: Wed 7:30pm - 10:20pm, Friend Center room 007

• Professor: Adam Finkelstein
  • Email:
  • Office Hours: Fri 10:30-11:30am or by appointment
  • Office: 424 Computer Science Bldg.
  • Phone: 258-5756
• TA: Vladimir Kim
  • Email:
  • Office Hours: Monday 5pm-6pm or by appointment
  • Office: 418A Computer Science Bldg.
• Lab TAs:
  • Emily Lancaster ()
  • Adriana Susnea ()

Misc:

• Anonymous feedback: Use this web form to send anonymous email to the course staff.
• Course blog: Use your NetID and LDAP password to log in and post to the blog.
• Course policies.