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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. How does heat travel?
(a) Heat can travel from a cold thing to a hot thing.
(b) Heat can travel from a hot thing to a cold thing.
(c) Heat can travel from a hot thing to a warm thing.
(d) Heat can travel from a hot thing to a hotter thing.

2. What results when a closed system's temperature evens out?
(a) There is no change.
(b) No work could be done.
(c) The system fails.
(d) More work can be accomplished.

3. Why is the randomness of numbers difficult to define?
(a) Numbers have an unpredictability.
(b) Numbers send different messages.
(c) A number may be random to some but not to others.
(d) Numbers are infinite.

4. How does Gleick see the universe?
(a) As a colossal Internet.
(b) As an infinite stream of knowledge.
(c) As a cloud of quantum particles.
(d) As a giant computer.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What happened to the library that once held all known information?

2. What process can measure the limits of the human mind?

3. What was John von Neumann's theory on the energy cost of information?

4. Why do scientists view quantum particles in terms of probability?

5. Entropy is the physical equivalent of what state?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the relationship between man and his memes?

2. How did Gregory Chaitin characterize random numbers?

3. What estimates did Seth Lloyd, a quantum engineer at MIT, make about the power of the universe?

4. What was the "Library of Babel" that was described in a story by Jorge Luis Borges?

5. What are major differences between Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Brittanica?

6. What are "memes" as first proposed by Richard Dawkins in "The Selfish Gene"?

7. What fundamental problem is inherent in the observation of quantum particles?

8. What was Claude Shannon referring to by the term "entropy" and what was its importance?

9. When was the term "cybernetics" coined and what meaning was attached to it?

10. What are examples of memes?

(see the answer keys)

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