1. What was one of the innovative concepts that Dawkins proposed in "The Selfish Gene"?
(a) The genome.
(b) The extra gene.
(c) A meme.
(d) The repressive gene.

2. What is an algorithm?
(a) A mathematical theory.
(b) A complex calculation.
(c) An algebraic formula.
(d) A set of instructions for arriving at a certain result.

3. Chaotic looking numbers may have simplistic algorithms but why are many difficult to determine?
(a) The number is too complex.
(b) It is impossible to work back from the number to find them.
(c) Because they are not computable.
(d) The number is too difficult to compress through computation.

4. Shannon used the term entropy to have what meaning in reference to a message?
(a) Certainty.
(b) Importance.
(c) Relevance.
(d) Uncertainty.

5. What is the normal state of quantum particles?
(a) They exist in a cloud of probable states all at once.
(b) The exist in an electrically charged state.
(c) They exist in an unknown state.
(d) They exist in a subdued state.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the modern meaning of "entropy"? "Entropy was not a kind of energy or an amount of energy," Gleick writes (p. 271). It was instead an abstract measurement of the unavailability of energy.

2. What does the word "entropy" describe in relationship to thermodynamics?

3. How much information does the universe hold?

4. How do scientists categorize catchphrases like "Survival of the fittest" and "Read my lips"?

5. How does Gleick see the universe?

(see the answer key)

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