What Is Random?

What Is Random?
Author: Edward Beltrami
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1461214726

In this fascinating book, mathematician Ed Beltrami takes a close enough look at randomness to make it mysteriously disappear. The results of coin tosses, it turns out, are determined from the start, and only our incomplete knowledge makes them look random. "Random" sequences of numbers are more elusive, but Godels undecidability theorem informs us that we will never know. Those familiar with quantum indeterminacy assert that order is an illusion, and that the world is fundamentally random. Yet randomness is also an illusion. Perhaps order and randomness, like waves and particles, are only two sides of the same (tossed) coin.

What Is Random?

What Is Random?
Author: Edward Beltrami
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2020-07-30
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1071607995

In this fascinating book, mathematician Ed Beltrami takes a close enough look at randomness to make it mysteriously disappear. The results of coin tosses, it turns out, are determined from the start, and only our incomplete knowledge makes them look random. "Random" sequences of numbers are more elusive, but Godels undecidability theorem informs us that we will never know. Those familiar with quantum indeterminacy assert that order is an illusion, and that the world is fundamentally random. Yet randomness is also an illusion. Perhaps order and randomness, like waves and particles, are only two sides of the same (tossed) coin.

Computational Methods in Reactor Shielding

Computational Methods in Reactor Shielding
Author: James Wood
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1483148130

Computational Methods in Reactor Shielding deals with the mathematical processes involved in how to effectively control the dangerous effect of nuclear radiation. Reactor shielding is considered an important aspect in the operation of reactor systems to ensure the safety of personnel and others that can be directly or indirectly affected. Composed of seven chapters, the book discusses ionizing radiation and how it aids in the control and containment of radioactive substances that are considered harmful to all living things. The text also outlines the necessary radiation quantities and units that are needed for a systemic control of shielding and presents an examination of the main sources of nuclear radiation. A discussion of the gamma photon cross sections and an introduction to BMIX, a computer program used in illustrating a technique in identifying the gamma ray build-up factor for a reactor shield, are added. The selection also discusses various mathematical representations and areas of shielding theory that are being used in radiation shielding. The book is of great value to those involved in the development and implementation of systems to minimize and control the dangerous and lethal effect of radiation.

Musical Creativity

Musical Creativity
Author: Irène Deliège
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2006-10-16
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1135422680

This collection initiates a resolutely interdisciplinary research dynamic specifically concerning musical creativity. Creativity is one of the most challenging issues currently facing scientific psychology and its study has been relatively rare in the cognitive sciences, especially in artificial intelligence. This book will address the need for a coherent and thorough exploration. Musical Creativity: Multidisciplinary Research in Theory and Practice comprises seven sections, each viewing musical creativity from a different scientific vantage point, from the philosophy of computer modelling, through music education, interpretation, neuroscience, and music therapy, to experimental psychology. Each section contains discussions by eminent international specialists of the issues raised, and the book concludes with a postlude discussing how we can understand creativity in the work of eminent composer, Jonathan Harvey. This unique volume presents an up-to-date snapshot of the scientific study of musical creativity, in conjunction with ESCOM (the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music). Describing many of the different aspects of musical creativity and their study, it will form a useful springboard for further such study in future years, and will be of interest to academics and practitioners in music, psychology, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, neuroscience and other fields concerning the study of human cognition in this most human of behaviours.