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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Gleick see the universe?

2. What is an algorithm?

3. What does the author compare the famous library to?

4. How does heat travel?

5. "Entropy" was first used by what individual to describe the unavailability of energy?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Erwin Schrodinger's theory about "genes"?

2. What was the original meaning of the term "entropy"?

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

4. What was mathematician Gregory Chatin's concept on entropy?

5. How did Erwin Schrodinger used the concept of "entropy"?

6. What did psychologist George Miller discover about a person's ability to remember?

7. What is the normal state of molecules in a system? Describe that arrangement.

8. What was zoologist's Richard Dawkins' theory on DNA?

9. What has research shown about entangled particles and the transference of information?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What did Charles Bennet put forward to possibly replace "bits" in information processing? How was Bennet's work related to quantum physics?

Essay Topic 2

Describe Norbert Weiner's views on the work and theories of Claude Shannon. Explain the circumstances under which Weiner coined the phrase "cybernetics". What was George Miller's observation on the capacity for the human mind to retain information?

Essay Topic 3

What kind of "telegraph" was invented by two French brothers and how did it function. What was the downside of this invention? Why was human error a factor in this process?

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This section contains 665 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample