This text is the product of several years' effort to develop a course to fill a specific educational gap. It is our belief that computer science students should know how a computer works, particularly in light of rapidly changing tech nologies. The text was designed for computer science students who have a calculus background but have not necessarily taken prior physics courses. However, it is clearly not limited to these students. Anyone who has had first-year physics can start with Chapter 17. This includes all science and engineering students who would like a survey course of the ideas, theories, and experiments that made our modern electronics age possible. This textbook is meant to be used in a two-semester sequence. Chapters 1 through 16 can be covered during the first semester, and Chapters 17 through 28 in the second semester. At Queens College, where preliminary drafts have been used, the material is presented in three lecture periods (50 minutes each) and one recitation period per week, 15 weeks per semester. The lecture and recitation are complemented by a two-hour laboratory period per week for the first semester and a two-hour laboratory period biweekly for the second semester.
