MIT  
 Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
 Department of Mechanical Engineering
 6.050J / 2.110J     Information, Entropy and Computation

Welcome to the home page of MIT subject 6.050J / 2.110J Information, Entropy and Computation (formerly called Information and Entropy). This course is designed for MIT freshmen. To fit their constrained schedules, it gives 9 units of credit (formerly 6 units; at MIT most courses are 12 units). It is elective: although not required in any major, the concepts learned are useful in many technical areas.

Home Page for the latest offering, Spring 2010

Prior offerings: Spring 2003   Spring 2004   Spring 2005   Spring 2006   Spring 2007   Spring 2008   Spring 2009   Spring 2010

Notes from Spring 2010

Frequently Asked Questions


Next Offering

This subject was not offered in Spring 2011,
and will not be offered in Spring 2012.
The next scheduled offering is Spring 2013.

This subject is being developed at MIT jointly by the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The first offering of this subject under its permanent numbers, 6.050J and 2.110J, was in Spring 2003.


About this Project

A brief overview of the objectives of this project is contained in the Preface to the notes.

Presentations about the project have been given at the National Electrical Engineering Department Heads Association Annual Meeting, Destin, FL, March, 1999 (presentation), at the Complexity in Engineering Conference, Cambridge, MA, November, 1999 (presentation), and at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association, Coronado, CA, March 2008 (prepared spoken version, presentation).

Other University Activity

As far as is known, a course like this is not offered at any other university today. Several universities have research groups that deal with the general topics of information, entropy, and thermodynamics together, and some have course offerings at a more advanced level. Here are some examples:


Visits since Nov 19, 2002: 45632 | Site map | Search | About this site | About this page | Comments and inquiries