"natural theology > notes > 2012 > notes 25 March 2012"

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Amos, Martyn, Genesis Machines: The New Science of Biocomputing, Atlantic Books 2006 Martin Amos's book Genesis Machines looks back on the 12 years since [Leonard Adelman of the University of South California launched the field of DNA computation]. . . . The computational feat reported in Adelman's seminal article was innocuous enough: examine a graph of seven nodes and determine whether a one-way path exists that connects all the nodes once and only once (an example of the hamiltonian path problem). But the importance of this work does not lie in the sophisitication of the problem, but in the fact that it showed that strands of DNA mixed together in a vial, could be controlled such that their biochemistry could be viewed as a computation. And this is perhaps the central message that Amos tries to convey in this book: all physical systems can be viewed as performing computations; it is down to the skill of the investigator to make them perform useful ones.'
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Bell, John S, Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics, Cambridge University Press 1987 Jacket: JB ... is particularly famous for his discovery of a crucial difference between the predictions of conventional quantum mechanics and the implications of local causality ... This work has played a major role in the development of our current understanding of the profound nature of quantum concepts and of the fundamental limitations they impose on the applicability of classical ideas of space, time and locality.
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Buzsaki, Gyorgy, Rhythms of the Brain, Oxford University Press, USA 2006 Amazon Editorial Reviews Review "Gyorgy Buzsaki's Rhythms of the Brain is an excellent compendium on the rapidly expanding research into the mechanisms and functions of neuronal synchronization. Buzsaski presents such synchronization as a binding glue that integrates many levels of neuroscientific investigation with one another and with neighboring disciplines...Buzsaki manages to elegantly integrate insights from physics, engineering, and cognitive psychology with contributions from cellular, systems, cognitive, and theoretical neuroscience."--Science "This is definitely an intriguing book that provides a comprehensive review of current knowledge on brain rhythms...this book is worth the time."--Doody's "For the non-scientist reader, a really good science book is almost never about science as much as it is about the scientist...But then comes along a book by a literature, engaging scientist. This author, you quickly realize, is willing to take a complex topic and explain, with patience, humility and a modicum of humor as the effort progresses, (1) why he or she thinks one way and not another, (2) discuss with honesty and integrity what is known about the subject and what isn't close to being confirmed and (3) detail candidly the dirty little secrets of the experimental laboratories and the secret little condescensions and the subtle omissions of the experimenters...As it turns out, the rhythms of Dr. Buzsakis mind have produced a fascinating read that a scientifically curious non-scientist can follow if they are willing to make the effort." --BrainTechnologies "Gyorgy Buzsaki's Rhythms of the Brain is an excellent compendium on the rapidly expanding research into the mechanisms and functions of neuronal synchronization. Buzsaki presents such synchronization as a binding glue that integrates many levels of neuroscientific investigation with one another and with neighboring disciplines...Buzsaki manages to elegantly integrate insights from physics, engineering, and cognitive psychology with contributions from cellular, systems, cognitive, and theoretical neuroscience."--Science "In Rhythms of the Brain, Gyorgy Buzsaki does a remarkable job of summarizing a vast body of literature on the topic...The book is a 'must read' for anyone interested in understanding the functioning of large and complex brain circuits."--Nature
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Feynman, Richard P, What do You Care What Other People Think: Further Adventures of a Curious Character, Unwin Hyman 1988 Jacket: 'Feynman died on 15 February 1988, after a long battle with cancer. During his final years he and his friend Ralph Leighton prepared this manuscript, his last literary legacy. It is at once wise and reminiscent, even serious in parts. Here is the story of how two people most influenced Feynman's early years - his father who taught him to think and his first wife Arlene who taught him to love even as she lay dying in Alberquerque hospital while Feynman worked nearby, on the atomic bomb in Los Alamos. . . . The second half of the book . . . is Feynman's behind the scenes account of the investigation that followed the space shuttle Challenger's explosion in January 1986. . . . We come to know in detail, through the eyes of a great scientist, the confusion and misjudgement that have plagued NAA in recent years.'
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Hobson, M P, and G. P. Efstathiou, A. N. Lasenby, General Relativity: An Introduction for Physicists, Cambridge University Press 2006 Amazon Editorial Reviews Book Description 'After reviewing the basic concept of general relativity, this introduction discusses its mathematical background, including the necessary tools of tensor calculus and differential geometry. These tools are used to develop the topic of special relativity and to discuss electromagnetism in Minkowski spacetime. Gravitation as spacetime curvature is introduced and the field equations of general relativity derived. After applying the theory to a wide range of physical situations, the book concludes with a brief discussion of classical field theory and the derivation of general relativity from a variational principle.'
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le Carre, John, The Naive and Sentimental Lover, Hodder & Stoughton 2001
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Lloyd, Seth, Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos, #Vintage; 2007 Amazon: Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly 'Lloyd, a professor at MIT, works in the vanguard of research in quantum computing: using the quantum mechanical properties of atoms as a computer. He contends that the universe itself is one big quantum computer producing what we see around us, and ourselves, as it runs a cosmic program. According to Lloyd, once we understand the laws of physics completely, we will be able to use small-scale quantum computing to understand the universe completely as well. In his scenario, the universe is processing information. The second law of thermodynamics (disorder increases) is all about information, and Lloyd spends much of the book explaining how quantum processes convey information. The creation of the universe itself involved information processing: random fluctuations in the quantum foam, like a random number generator in a computer program, produced higher-density areas, then matter, stars, galaxies and life. Lloyd's hypothesis bears important implications for the red-hot evolution–versus–intelligent design debate, since he argues that divine intervention isn't necessary to produce complexity and life. Unfortunately, he rushes through what should be the climax of his argument. Nevertheless, Lloyd throws out many fascinating ideas. (For another take on information theory, see Decoding the Universe on p.53.) 12 b&w illus.' Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Nielsen, Michael A, and Isaac L Chuang, Quantum Computation and Quantum Information, Cambridge University Press 2000 Review: A rigorous, comprehensive text on quantum information is timely. The study of quantum information and computation represents a particularly direct route to understanding quantum mechanics. Unlike the traditional route to quantum mechanics via Schroedinger's equation and the hydrogen atom, the study of quantum information requires no calculus, merely a knowledge of complex numbers and matrix multiplication. In addition, quantum information processing gives direct access to the traditionally advanced topics of measurement of quantum systems and decoherence.' Seth Lloyd, Department of Quantum Mechanical Engineering, MIT, Nature 6876: vol 416 page 19, 7 March 2002.
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Papers

Adami, Christoph, "Biological programming: ", Nature, 446, 7127, 15 March 2007, page 263-264. 'The digital nature of molecules such as DNA means they can be used in computers..'. back

Cavalier-Smith, Thomas, "Concept of a bacterium still valid in prokaryote debate", Nature, 446, 7127, 25 January 2007, page . 'Organisms are not mere assemblages of genes, whether inherited vertically or laterally, but cells (or integrated assemblies of cells) in which there is a mutualistic coperation of genomes, membranes, skeletons and catalysts that together make a physically and functionally coherent unit capable of reproduction and evolution.'. back

Chaitin, Gregory J, "Randomness and Mathematical Proof", Scientific American, 232, 5, May 1975, page 47-52. 'Although randomness can be precisely defined and can even be measured, a given number cannot be proved random. This enigma establishes a limit in what is possible in mathematics'. back

d'Espagnat, Bernard, "The Quantum Theory and Reality", Scientific American, 241, 5, November 1979, page 128-140. 'The doctrine that the world is made up of objects whose existence is independent of human consciousness turns out to be in conflict with quantum mechanics and with facts established by experience.' . back

Gardner, Martin, "Mathematical games", Scientific American, 241, 5, November 1979, page 22-31. 'The random number 0mega bids fair to hold the mysteries of the universe. back

Lardelli, Michael, "Scientists need to confront economists about peak oil", Nature, 446, 7127, 25 January 2007, page 257. Letter to the editor. back

Nyquist, H, "Regeneration Theory", Bell System Technical Journal, 11, , 1932, page 126-147. back

Links

Aquinas 20 Summa I, 3, 7: Whether God is altogether simple? 'I answer that, The absolute simplicity of God may be shown in many ways. First, from the previous articles of this question. For there is neither composition of quantitative parts in God, since He is not a body; nor composition of matter and form; nor does His nature differ from His "suppositum"; nor His essence from His existence; neither is there in Him composition of genus and difference, nor of subject and accident. Therefore, it is clear that God is nowise composite, but is altogether simple. . . . ' back

Blues Brothers Central Blues Brothers Central :: The Ultimate Blues Brothers Fansite 'Introduction Blues Brothers Central was created in 2003 by Chris Rossi. It has since become the Internet's Largest Blues Brothers Fansite, the Number One web presence for Blues Brothers fans worldwide.' back

Jon Stokes Understanding Moore's Law Page 1 'Moore's Law is so perennially protean because its eponymous formulator never quite gave it a precise formulation. Rather, using prose, graphs, and a cartoon Moore wove together a collection of observations and insights in order to outline a cluster of trends that would change the way we live and work. In the main, Moore was right, and many of his specific predictions have come true over the years. The press, on the other hand, has met with mixed results in its attempts to sort out exactly what Moore said and, more importantly, what he meant. The present article represents my humble attempt to bring some order to the chaos of almost four decades of reporting and misreporting on an unbelievably complex industrial/social/psychological phenomenon. ' back

Peter Rogers Mesons violate Bell's inequality 'Bell and others showed that it was possible to distinguish between quantum mechanics and these hidden-variable theories in a certain type of experiment that measure a parameter known as S. Put simply, the local theories predict that S will always be less than two, whereas the quantum prediction is S = 2√2. When S is greater than two, Bell’s inequality is said to be violated. Apollo Go of the National Central University in Taiwan and co-workers in the Belle collaboration performed the experiment at the KEK B-factory. At this accelerator beams of electrons and positrons are collided to produce pairs of B mesons and their antiparticles, which then decay into lighter particles. The meson pairs behave like photon pairs, but instead of analyzing correlations between directions of polarization, the Belle team study particle-antiparticle correlations using a technique known as “flavour tagging”. Go and colleagues calculated that S = 2.725, with error bars that mean that the inequality is violated by three standard deviations.' back

Wikipedia Nyquist-Shannon Sampling Theorem 'The Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem is a fundamental result in the field of information theory, in particular telecommunications and signal processing. The theorem is commonly called Shannon's sampling theorem, and is also known as Nyquist–Shannon–Kotelnikov, Whittaker–Shannon–Kotelnikov, Whittaker–Nyquist–Kotelnikov–Shannon, WKS, etc., sampling theorem, as well as the Cardinal Theorem of Interpolation Theory. In addition to its mathematical originator E. T. Whittaker, and its American engineering originators Claude Shannon and Harry Nyquist, it is also attributed to the Russian engineering originator V. A. Kotelnikov and sometimes to its German engineering originators Karl Küpfmüller and H. Raabe, or its Japanese originator I. Someya. J. M. Whittaker developed it further and called it the Cardinal theorem. It is often referred to as simply the sampling theorem.' back

vol VII: Notes

2012

Notes

Sunday 25 March 2012

Monday 26 March 2012

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Thursday 29 March 2012

Friday 30 March 2012

Saturday 31 March 2012

Further reading

Books

Papers

Links