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


===== Part I: Basic Tools (6 weeks) =====

  * Unit 1: Introduction to Python.  Elementary values and data types.  Straight line programs, assignments to variables, type conversion, math library.
  * Unit 2: Strings, sequences, vectors, arrays. Introduction to VPython. Functions and parameters.  
  * Unit 3: Conditionals and loop structures.  Recursion.
  * Exam 1



===== Part II: Introduction to Computational Tools, Methods, and Structures (6 weeks) =====

  * Unit 4: Simulation and Monte Carlo methods.  Optimization methods.
  * Unit 5: Introductions to Computational Physics and Computational Chemistry
  * Unit 6: Use of data structures: trees, traversal and exploration. Recursion.  
  * Unit 7: Introduction to graphs and their use in science applications.  Visualizing massive data sets.	
  * Exam 2





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

  * Unit 8: Object-oriented design.  
  * Unit 9: Algorithm design, limits of computing, intractability, computability. Future models of computation: DNA computing, quantum computing
  * Comprehensive Final Exam