Take Claude E. Shannon's Master's thesis, the long version.
Considered by many the most important Master's thesis of last century. It fully introduced the concept of binary / Boolean logic to design of electronic circuits. If you understand the core premise of his work, you understand the core of computers. If you can apply his work, you can design computers.<p>Thesis:<p><a href="https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/11173" rel="nofollow">https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/11173</a>
<a href="https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/greatworks/shannon38.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/greatworks/shannon38.pdf</a><p>Go through the theory in the thesis with pen and paper, use the references as needed. Thesis, article on it by Shannon and lots of commentary available freely online. He provided a number of practical applications, with breakdown.<p>Here is the core question you need to answer to understand logic in computers: what can you do with just yes and no, represented as 1 and 0?<p>Why were these numbers reversed in Shannon's thesis?<p>In his thesis, 1+1=1. Why? If you understand postulates, it makes sense for the kind of theory he is developing. If not, you should be very excited: mathematical theory, unlike how it is presented in bad schools, is not about following rules someone has decided on. It is about making sense in accordance with the logic you decide upon! This is as close as you can get to real magic, magic you can prove and make manifest in reality. Contemplate this deeply.<p>What kind of information can you transmit with a lamp and a switch, turning the lamp on and off? (Tip: this is the whole idea behind how the super-modern fiber-optic cables are transmitting information today, with lights blinking on and off, real fast, from one end to the other. Poetically, they are the core of the Internet).<p>Following the hyperlinks and looking up what you need should provide all the information required and more.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Symbolic_Analysis_of_Relay_and_Switching_Circuits" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Symbolic_Analysis_of_Relay_a...</a>