A computational lens on doing physics

Abstract

In the two sessions we will explore what it means to approach physics through the lens of computation. I’ll introduce some of the ways in which computation has shaped physics in terms of modelling, measurement and also how we learn the subject. No prior programming knowledge is expected. We’ll begin from first principles, using just our hands, some paper, and a few simple rules to build up a system. 
 

In the second session, we’ll move to a visual programming environment (Tinkercad and Seelab). You’ll use a laptop (preferable) or smartphone to try out basic computational constructs like loops, conditionals, and sensor-based responses. The goal is to begin thinking computationally in a  physics context, and to see how we can even start doing simple experiments by interfacing with real hardware.