Computational Thinking by Peter J Denning

Computational Thinking by Peter J Denning

This pocket-sized introduction to computational thinking and problem-solving traces its genealogy centuries before the digital computer.

A few decades into the digital era, scientists discovered that thinking in terms of computation made possible an entirely new way of organizing scientific investigation. Eventually, every field had a computational branch: computational physics, computational biology, computational sociology. More recently, "computational thinking" has become part of the K-12 curriculum. But what is computational thinking? This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers an accessible overview-tracing a genealogy that begins centuries before digital computers and portraying computational thinking as the pioneers of computing have described it.

The authors explain that computational thinking (CT) is not a set of concepts for programming; it is a way of thinking that is honed through practice: the mental skills for designing computations to do jobs for us, and for explaining and interpreting the world as a complex of information processes. Mathematically trained experts (known as "computers") who performed complex calculations as teams engaged in CT long before electronic computers. In each chapter, the authoridentify different dimensions of today's highly developed CT:

. Computational Methods
. Computing Machines
. Computing Education
. Software Engineering
. Computational Science
. Design

Along the way, they debunk inflated claims for CT and computation while making clear the power of CT in all its complexity and multiplicity.

Peter J. Denning is Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. He is the coauthor of The Innovator's Way: Essential Practices for Successful Innovation and Great Principles of Computing, both published by the MIT Press. Matti Tedre is a Professor in the School of Computing at the University of Eastern Finland, Associate Professor in the Department of Computer and Systems Science at Stockholm University, and the author of The Science of Computing: Shaping a Discipline.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780262536561
ISBN 10	0262536560
Title	Computational Thinking
Author	Matti Tedre
Series	Mit Press Essential Knowledge Series
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	MIT Press Ltd
Year published	2019-05-14
Number of pages	264
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.