code: Translating from one system of values to another system.
Electricity
The Binary System: a system where the only two numbers available are 0 and 1. Every operation that we can do in decimal, with 10 digits, we can also do in binary.
The Transistor: A switch controlled by electricity.
Counting in binary
Thursday
Announcement: If you want to take CSC102 and haven't contacted Pippin Wolfe (apwolfe@smith.edu), please do so now!
We continue counting in binary, then move on to simple additions in binary, remembering first how we do additions by hand in decimal.
Figuring out the value of a binary number: what is the value of 1110, for example?
==> Main message: everything we can do in decimal we can do in binary
Recap:
at some point in time, engineers had very fast electronic switches at their disposition in the form of transistors
mathematicians had shown that a binary system allowed the same quality of arithmetic as the decimal system.
Comes Boole (1815-1864), and the boolean algebra (very soon we'll talk about Shannon, who linked Boole's work with binary arithmetic. More on that later)
Boolean assertions can be either True or False
new boolean assertions can be combined with simple operators to form other assertions that are also boolean and can only be True or False
The operators are AND, OR, and NOT. They are defined by truth tables.
Several examples to discuss in class:
Alarm system to go to CSC103 the right day at the right time
Alarm system to allow one to stay in bed during the weekend
True/False machine to pick ice cream
Reading
Primary:
Video (Part 2) on George Boole and Boolean Algebra. (5.18 min)
You will find Wikipedia's description of the processor interesting. Concentrate mostly on the sections labeled Microprocessor, Operation, and Clock Rate.
