Language as a means of Communication
Pre-history
Spoken language emerged at some point in human pre-history. The linguists and anthropologists suggest that humans acquired the ability to speak as we understand the concept, perhaps 80,000 years ago. There is no real agreement and that is one of the challenges of pre-history. There was no one around who knew how to write... (this is supposed to be a joke...)
English as a case study
Having a big sale, on-site celebrity, or other event? Be sure to announce it so everybody knows and gets excited about it.
Phonemes
Phonemes are the sounds you make with your mouth in order to make words. English is said to have variously 41, 42 or 43 distinct phonemes in current usage.
Letter frequency analysis
As a preface to the discussion on cryptography, you should know a tiny bit of statistics about the English language. I could have chosen another language but we all speak and write English in the class so we have a common language to analyse.
Cryptography
Sometimes writers want to hide the meaning of their messages. Codes can work. There is some science behind it. This section provides some background and technical content.
Engima and the Bombe
Alan Turing asked if all numbers could be named, and if all numbers could be calculated. He asked this to spark discussion. The result was part of the underpinnings of digital computing by stimulating the creation of algorithms to perform work.
Display their FAQs
Customers have questions, you have answers. Display the most frequently asked questions, so everybody benefits.