Concise Guide to Computing Foundations (PDF)

This unique textbook pioneers a new approach to educating the general student about computing to practically address the needs of today's society. This approach provides an accessible introduction to the key concepts in computer science and how these are applied to support other areas of science, highlighting the important interconnections between the different disciplines.

Topics and features:

• Provides a strong interdisciplinary introduction to computational science
• Discusses such issues as the use of computer simulations, the limits of precision in a computer, and the amount of work performed by software to complete a task
• Covers the cross-disciplinary application of data representation, algorithms, self-defining data, and performance complexity
• Examines the close links between computer science and such scientific and engineering fields as bioinformatics, chemical kinetics, hydrogeological modeling, and mechanics of materials
• Describes the contributions of computer science to engineering analysis, GIS, flow analysis, solving equations, curve fitting, optimization, and data acquisition
• Contains review questions, exercises, and discussion prompts throughout the text, together with chapter objectives and an appendix on using LabQuest

This classroom-tested and activity-based textbook has been developed for teaching second-semester freshmen and sophomore non-computer science STEM majors, structured around a discovery learning approach. The work is also ideal for self-teaching.

Dr. Kevin Brewer is Co-Chair and Professor in the Department of Engineering in the Walker School of Engineering at Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, IL, USA. Dr. Cathy Bareiss is a Professor of Computer Science at the same institution.