The Most Complex Machine

Welcome to the home page for, The Most Complex Machine: A Survey of Computers and Computing, by David Eck.

The Most Complex Machine is an introductory computer science textbook that can also be read by anyone who wants to understand how computers work and what computer science is about. It is supplemented by free software and lab worksheets based on that software. (The programs are currently written only for Macintosh computers, but I plan to port them to Windows eventually.)

News!

• January 6, 1996. I have writen my first Java applet! If you have a Web browser that supports Java, check it out here. Eventually, I hope to port all the programs for The Most Complex Machine to Java.
• January 5, 1996. I have posted the program xComputer, including documentation and examples, as a separate package. See the downloading page.
• September 14, 1995. Hobart and William Smith Colleges have upgraded their connection to the Internet from 56Kbps to 128Kbps. This means that downloading speed from this server should be improved.
• August 15, 1995. The Most Complex Machine is now in print! (Published by A K Peters, Wellesley, Massachusetts; ISBN number 1-56881-054-7)
• August 3, 1995. I have posted the program xTuringMachine as a separate package, including documentation, for downloading. It joins xSortLab, xLogicCircuits, and the two xModels programs.
• July 16, 1995. I have written the final three of fifteen labs, so the Lab Manual for Macintosh is complete and available for downloading (from the downloading page).

About The Most Complex Machine

If you would like to know more about the book, you can read:

• The Preface.
• The Table of Contents.
• Short chapter summaries.

And when you decide you've got to have the book, here is an order form (but note that the book won't actually be published until July).

Software and Lab Worksheets

Programs for Macintosh computer and lab worksheets are available for downloading. For more infomation, see:

• A list of programs, with a short descrition of each.
• Short Summaries of all the labs.
• More about how to download the software and labs.

Information for CS 100

Computer Science 100: "Principles of Computer Science" is the course in which I use The Most Complex Machine. This information was put here mostly for the benefit of students who were taking that course, which is now over.

• Information for Spring '96:
  • The course handout, describing the course, the schedule of tests, grading policies, etc.
  • Weekly Guides
  • An Addendum to Lab #0, including information on using email on the HWS VAX computer.
    • A page of links found by students for this exercise.
  • Quiz No. 1
  • Quiz No. 2
  • First Test
  • Quiz No. 3
  • Quiz No. 4
  • Quiz No. 5
  • A photo of the ENIAC
• Information from previous terms (note that the material covered in these terms was not exactly the same as for the current term):
  • The Fall '95 course handout.
  • First test and Second test from Fall '95.
  • Quizzes from Fall '95: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7.
  • The Spring '95 course handout.
  • Test #1 and test #2 from Spring '95, with answers.
  • Quizzes (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, and #7) from Spring '95, with answers.
  • Quizzes from Spring '94, with answers.