It is important to note that these lecture notes, are {\bf not} a substitute for the literature that exists. In general, they will contain a brief synopsis of the theory presented, when relevant, and several features to help guide the experimental process. Included in these features are guiding questions and keywords designed to facilitate further exploration of a topic and to provide you with a starting point to catalyze the experimentation process. The frequency and overt nature of these questions/keywords will decrease as the class progresses, in favor of your own development of these questions. In general, it is helpful to sit with a new topic before beginning any "exciting" things and create a list of questions that may pop into your head, or conduct a brief survey of the topic to familiarize yourself with its ins and outs. Additionally, you will notice that the format of these notes is a little strange. Namely, there exists a larger than average right margin. The idea behind this is that it provides you with a natural place to place any questions, comments, or notes from the short weekly lectures. One last note before we begin. Amongst the individuals in the class, there is often a large variation with respect to knowledge and skillset. It is important to recognize this and to ask others for help/offer help when necessary. Scientific inquiry is bolstered by community and humility. \pagebreak \section{Week 1} Throughout this course, we will use many different tools, including \LaTeX, LabView, and your choice of programming language (with a heavy emphasis on Python of course). So, for the first week, we will focus on installing the necessary programs and packages to tackle this semester. \subsection{Python} \subsection{Arduino IDE} \subsection{\LaTeX} \LaTeX \space is a markup language that is used in science communication and in general writing. It provides tools that make writing equations and formatting documents easy. During this class, you will become familiar with using \LaTeX. \subsubsection{Web Application} One of the easiest ways to get started with \LaTeX \space is through the online web application {\it Overleaf}. Thanks to Lehigh, we all have access to the professional version as long as you create an account with your Lehigh University email. It provides access to various packages and templates, that you do not need to install. \subsubsection{Local Installations} If you would like to learn \LaTeX a little better, one can use a local installation. For Mac, I would recommend {\it Texifier}. The free version works well enough for all intents and purposes. Alternatively, one can navigate to http://latex-project.org and download the relevant \TeX \space distributions for your device. \subsection{LabView (Optional)} \end{document}