====== Course Syllabus =====


===== Part I: Basic Tools (6 weeks) =====
  * Introduction to Python.  Elementary values and data types.  	
  * Straight line programs, assignments to variables, type conversion, math library.
  * Strings, lists, and tuples.  Vectors and arrays. Conditionals and loop structures.
  * Plotting using MatPlotLib and 3D visualization in VPython.
  * Functions, parameters, and scope. Recursion.
  * Exam 1

===== Part II: Computational Tools and Methods (6 weeks) =====

  * Arithmetic and random numbers. Using NumPy. Numerical and problem stability.
  * Computational Physics: Applications of Monte Carlo Simulation 
  * Introduction to trees and graphs, using NetworkX, graphs in science applications.
  * Bioinformatics: Analyzing biological structures and their visualization using Cytoscape.
  * Grand challenges in scientific computing.	
  * Exam 2


===== Part III: Looking Under the Hood at Computer Science (3 weeks) ======

  * Object-oriented design. Use and design of classes, OO concepts. 
  * History of computer science.  
  * Limits of computing, intractability, computability.
  * Future models of computation: DNA computing, quantum computing.
  * Comprehensive Final Exam