Download or read book Science Computers and the Information Onslaught written by Donald M. Kerr and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2014-05-10 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science, Computers, and the Information Onslaught: A Collection of Essays covers the proceedings of the 1981 meeting on “Science and the Information Onslaught , held at Los Alamos, New Mexico. This book is organized into five parts encompassing 19 chapters. The first part deals with the problems of measurement and the uses of information in decisions concerning national security. This part also emphasizes the dependence of survival on technological progress. The next part examines the foundations of information theory, the interaction between psychological concepts and the mathematical theories of automata, and the major problems in robotics. These topics are followed by discussions of the efforts to codify languages in formal grammatical systems and the past misuse of irrelevantly detailed information in decision making, specifically the use and misuse of information in government decisions about technological projects. The remaining parts consider the project of enhancing human abilities by the insertion of silicon chips in the body. These parts also assess the implications of a microelectronic technology capable of producing chips bearing millions of logically active circuit elements. Accounts of cryptanalytic successes in World War II are also included. This book will be of value to mathematicians, physicists, linguistics, and computer scientists.
Download or read book Essays on the Future written by Siegfried Hecker and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-12-01 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection represents a unique undertaking in scientific publishing to honor Nick Metropolis, the last survivor of the World War II Manhattan Project in Los Alamos. In this volume, some of the leading scientists and humanists of our time have contributed essays related to their respective disciplines, exploring various aspects of future developments in science and society, philosophy, national security, nuclear power, pure and applied mathematics, physics and biology, particle physics, computing, and information science.
Download or read book John von Neumann and the Origins of Modern Computing written by William Aspray and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1990-12-07 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: William Aspray provides the first broad and detailed account of von Neumann's many different contributions to computing. John von Neumann (1903-1957) was unquestionably one of the most brilliant scientists of the twentieth century. He made major contributions to quantum mechanics and mathematical physics and in 1943 began a new and all-too-short career in computer science. William Aspray provides the first broad and detailed account of von Neumann's many different contributions to computing. These, Aspray reveals, extended far beyond his well-known work in the design and construction of computer systems to include important scientific applications, the revival of numerical analysis, and the creation of a theory of computing.Aspray points out that from the beginning von Neumann took a wider and more theoretical view than other computer pioneers. In the now famous EDVAC report of 1945, von Neumann clearly stated the idea of a stored program that resides in the computer's memory along with the data it was to operate on. This stored program computer was described in terms of idealized neurons, highlighting the analogy between the digital computer and the human brain. Aspray describes von Neumann's development during the next decade, and almost entirely alone, of a theory of complicated information processing systems, or automata, and the introduction of themes such as learning, reliability of systems with unreliable components, self-replication, and the importance of memory and storage capacity in biological nervous systems; many of these themes remain at the heart of current investigations in parallel or neurocomputing.Aspray allows the record to speak for itself. He unravels an intricate sequence of stories generated by von Neumann's work and brings into focus the interplay of personalities centered about von Neumann. He documents the complex interactions of science, the military, and business and shows how progress in applied mathematics was intertwined with that in computers. William Aspray is Director of the Center for the History of Electrical Engineering at The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Download or read book Descartes Dream written by Philip J. Davis and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These provocative essays take a modern look at the 17th-century thinker's dream, examining the influences of mathematics on society, particularly in light of technological advances. They survey the conditions that elicit the application of mathematic principles; the applications' effectiveness; and how applied mathematics transform perceptions of reality. 1987 edition.
Download or read book Causation in Decision Belief Change and Statistics written by W.L. Harper and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The papers collected here are, with three exceptions, those presented at a conference on probability and causation held at the University of California at Irvine on July 15-19, 1985. The exceptions are that David Freedman and Abner Shimony were not able to contribute the papers that they presented to this volume, and that Clark Glymour who was not able to attend the conference did contribute a paper. We would like to thank the National Science Foundation and the School of Humanities of the University of California at Irvine for generous support. WILLIAM HARPER University of Western Ontario BRIAN SKYRMS University of California at Irvine Vll INTRODUCTION PART I: DECISIONS AND GAMES Causal notions have recently corne to figure prominently in discussions about rational decision making. Indeed, a relatively influential new approach to theorizing about rational choice has come to be called "causal decision theory". 1 Decision problems such as Newcombe's Problem and some versions of the Prisoner's Dilemma where an act counts as evidence for a desired state even though the agent knows his choice of that act cannot causally influence whether or not the state obtains have motivated causal decision theorists.
Download or read book The Star and the Whole written by Fabrizio Palombi and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2011-08-24 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Star and the Whole: Gian-Carlo Rota on Mathematics and Phenomenology, authored by Fabrizio Palombi, is the first book to study Rota's philosophical reflection. Rota (1932-1999) was a leading figure in contemporary mathematics and an outstanding philosopher, inspired by phenomenology, who made fundamental contributions to combinatorial analysis,
Download or read book Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports written by and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 1282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lists citations with abstracts for aerospace related reports obtained from world wide sources and announces documents that have recently been entered into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Database.
Download or read book Synthesizing Systems written by Anna Darden Copeland and published by Universal-Publishers. This book was released on 2007-02-22 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this dissertation is to introduce a general reading audience to the major themes found in the fiction of Richard Powers with an emphasis on his use of science. For Powers, science is something more than the accumulation of technical data and the proliferation of theories developed to explain physical phenomena. It is an evolving body of knowledge which has important insights to contribute into the conditions which ground human experience The close and often detailed discussions of contemporary issues in science which Powers incorporates into his fiction indicate the extent to which he sees science as an inseparable component in any attempt to understand the complexities of human experience. The common ground Powers uses to link the interests of science and those of fiction into a balanced, if not always harmonious, pursuit of truth is wonder. The limitations placed on science during this century do not undermine the ability of science to influence what we can know. Nor do these limitations diminish the ability of science to inspire wonder. Quite the opposite. For Powers the true wonder of the human intellect rests in our remarkable ability to balance observation and interpretation. What he discovers again and again in his fiction is that science, like literature, is a product of the human imagination, a way to mediate between the world and our perceptions of it. The recognition that science is a cultural practice--a body of knowledge thoroughly imbued with the practices and prejudices of its historical surroundings--is a necessary first step in mending the rift separating science and literature, head and heart. The greatest insight of twentieth century science may just be the recognition that there are other ways to access the truth. Richard Powers skillful weaving of science and art is a testament that literature offers a unique vantage point from which we might learn something of value about ourselves and the world we inhabit.
Download or read book Science in the Mission Agencies and Federal Laboratories written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology. Task Force on Science Policy and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 1894 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Mathematical Experience Study Edition written by Philip Davis and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-10-28 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 1983 National Book Award! "...a perfectly marvelous book about the Queen of Sciences, from which one will get a real feeling for what mathematicians do and who they are. The exposition is clear and full of wit and humor..." - The New Yorker (1983 National Book Award edition) Mathematics has been a human activity for thousands of years. Yet only a few people from the vast population of users are professional mathematicians, who create, teach, foster, and apply it in a variety of situations. The authors of this book believe that it should be possible for these professional mathematicians to explain to non-professionals what they do, what they say they are doing, and why the world should support them at it. They also believe that mathematics should be taught to non-mathematics majors in such a way as to instill an appreciation of the power and beauty of mathematics. Many people from around the world have told the authors that they have done precisely that with the first edition and they have encouraged publication of this revised edition complete with exercises for helping students to demonstrate their understanding. This edition of the book should find a new generation of general readers and students who would like to know what mathematics is all about. It will prove invaluable as a course text for a general mathematics appreciation course, one in which the student can combine an appreciation for the esthetics with some satisfying and revealing applications. The text is ideal for 1) a GE course for Liberal Arts students 2) a Capstone course for perspective teachers 3) a writing course for mathematics teachers. A wealth of customizable online course materials for the book can be obtained from Elena Anne Marchisotto ([email protected]) upon request.
Download or read book Philosophical Reflections and Syntheses written by Eugene Paul Wigner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 631 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among the founding fathers of modern quantum physics few have contributed to our basic understanding of its concepts as much as E.P. Wigner. His articles on the epistemology of quantum mechanics and the measurement problem, and the basic role of symmetries were of fundamental importance for all subsequent work. He was also the first to discuss the concept of consciousness from the point of view of modern physics. G.G. Emch edited most of those papers and wrote a very helpful introduction into Wigner's contributions to Natural Philosophy. The book should be a gem for all those interested in the history and philosophy of science.
Download or read book International Journal of Reviews in Library and Information Science written by and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Studies in the Logic of Charles Sanders Peirce written by Nathan Houser and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1997-07-22 with total page 680 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume represents an important contribution to Peirce's work in mathematics and formal logic. An internationally recognized group of scholars explores and extends understandings of Peirce's most advanced work. The stimulating depth and originality of Peirce's thought and the continuing relevance of his ideas are brought out by this major book.
Download or read book The Philosophy of Logical Mechanism written by M.H. Salmon and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work is divided into two parts. Part I contains sixteen critical es says by prominent philosophers and computer scientists. Their papers offer insightful, well-argued contemporary views of a broad range of topics that lie at the heart of philosophy in the second half of the twen tieth century: semantics and ontology, induction, the nature of prob ability, the foundations of science, scientific objectivity, the theory of naming, the logic of conditionals, simulation modeling, the relatiOn be tween minds and machines, and the nature of rules that guide be havior. In this volume honoring Arthur W. Burks, the philosophical breadth of his work is thus manifested in the diverse aspects of that work chosen for discussion and development by the contributors to his Festschrift. Part II consists of a book-length essay by Burks in which he lays out his philosophy of logical mechanism while responding to the papers in Part I. In doing so, he provides a unified and coherent context for the range of problems raised in Part I, and he highlights interesting relationships among the topics that might otherwise have gone un noticed. Part II is followed by a bibliography of Burks's published works.
Download or read book Ethics and Theological Disclosures written by Guy Mansini and published by CUA Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Honouring distinguished philosopher and professor Robert Sokolowski for his work in phenomenology, the essays included in this collection demonstrate the reception and fruitfulness of Sokolowski's analysis of moral action and his idea of a theology of disclosure.
Download or read book Accessions List written by Environmental Science Information Center. Library and Information Services Division and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Truthful and the Good written by J.J. Drummond and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-12-11 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: lbis volume was occasioned by the desire of its contributors to honor Robert Sokolowski on his sixtieth birthday. The desire first took fonn on the streets of an American metropolis when several of us, while attending a philosophy conference, were bemoaning the lack of passion for doing philosophy as we all conceived it. In this expression of our discontent we all had a common exemplar in mind, someone for whom the passion for "the truthful" and "the good" is embodied in every sentence of his rich writings. Felicitously this very thinker was someone whom we an regard as manifesting in his person and life these same properties which his writings exhibit and pursue as luminous ideals. As a result, John Brough, John Drummond, and I came up with the idea that we hold our own conference and do philosophy as we envisage it and at the same time honor its foremost exemplary practitioner whose sixtieth birthday was the following year. Immediately the idea took wings among the handful ofus and the dreariness of that philosophy congress receded. The first task of thinking of possible speakers was easy. The issue of the venue for our symposium, what I like to call the "Sokofest," had to be decided, as well as the details of its realization.
