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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What were the benefits of the early logarithm tables?
(a) Made work easier.
(b) Cut down on errors and allowed for quicker calculations.
(c) Eliminated calculations.
(d) Provided solutions.

2. What did a young mathematician named Kurt Gödel conclude about conflicting statements?
(a) There frequency represented only a .001 percent possibility of occurring.
(b) There were some statements that could neither be proved or disproved.
(c) That Russell had made an error in basic structure of the Principia Mathematica.
(d) That the Principia Mathematica was flawed and began his own work.

3. In the prologue to "The Information", what year does Gleick identify as a crucial year in the history of information and computing?
(a) 1932.
(b) 1961.
(c) 1948.
(d) 1955.

4. How did sub-Saharan African tribes communicate over long distances?
(a) By messenger.
(b) By smoke signals.
(c) By witchcraft.
(d) By drums.

5. Who was the sixth editor of the Oxford English Dictionary?
(a) John Simpson.
(b) Thomas Edison.
(c) Lord Byron.
(d) Mark Twain.

Short Answer Questions

1. All known alphabets are based on the original alphabet that emerged about 1500 B.C. in what area?

2. What caused the errors that were contained in the tables of logarithms that had to be calculated themselves?

3. What did the written language provide that helped to progress the intellect of mankind?

4. Eliminating noise in Shannon's model meant looking at language in terms of what factor?

5. In what manner was "A Table Alphabeticall" arranged?

Short Essay Questions

1. What culture developed the earliest known method of writing language with the use of pictures to represent things?

2. How was the "telephone number" born?

3. What did Claude Shannon create from examining the statistical makeup of the English language?

4. Why did Ada Lovelace publish her mathematical arguments anonymously?

5. What are the two "wordbooks" that Gleick refers to in this chapter?

6. While Shannon worked on secret cryptography projects for the US government during World War II, what theory about information did he conceive?

7. Who developed the Principia Mathematica and what did it provide?

8. By the 1930s the telephone had replace the telegraph as the most advanced means of communication. What advantages did the telephone have over the telegraph?

9. What impact did the electric telegraph have on the world?

10. In modern times, what innovation has had the most impact on language?

(see the answer keys)

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