Preface

This electronic textbook is based on material taught in PHYS160 at Drexel University. This course has been taught over the years to a wide mix of (mostly freshmen) students from the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering, the College of Information and Technology and the College of Business. It evolved from teaching an introduction to computer languages, to the present format based on Microsoft Excel, or OpenOffice, and Maple.

The electronic textbook is rooted in a textbook (now out of print) that was published in 1993 by Profs Lim, Vallières and Haracz. The latter served as a guide for the students over the first few years of the course. The material currently taught in PHYS160 has evolved considerably since the earlier times.

This electronic textbook is geared to the quarter system (10 weeks quarter) at Drexel University. However, it contains sufficient material to cover in a regular semester format. It also includes ample exercises to guide further the learning of the material by the students.

  Any questions or suggestions should be directed to

   Michel Vallières at vallieres@drexel.edu