The great Soviet calculator hack: Programmable calculators and a sci-fi story brought Soviet teens into the digital age

DESPITE THE UBIQUITY of computers in modern society, the vast majority of today's students never study computer science or computer programming. Those who are exposed to these subjects typically learn low-level skills rather than undertaking any deeper exploration of computational concepts or theory. In earlier decades, a few countries did promote computer education at the national level. In the 1980s, for example, the British government launched a popular and quite successful initiative that brought thousands of BBC Micros into classrooms.