The Principles of Uncertainty

Author: Maira Kalman
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143116460
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Book Description
“Sublime . . . Kalman’s elegantly witty and at times melancholy narrative runs arm in arm with her unmistakable paintings on a serendipitous romp through the history of the world.” —Vanity Fair “Wildly original . . . there’s nothing else even remotely like it . . . This hilarious, wise, and deeply moving volume [is] the ultimate picture book for grown-ups.” —O Magazine Maira Kalman paints her highly personal worldview in this inimitable combination of image and text An irresistible invitation to experience life through a beloved artist's psyche, The Principles of Uncertainty is a compilation of Maira Kalman's New York Times columns. Part personal narrative, part documentary, part travelogue, part chapbook, and all Kalman, these brilliant, whimsical paintings, ideas, and images - which initially appear random - ultimately form an intricately interconnected worldview, an idiosyncratic inner monologue.

Principles of Uncertainty

Author: Joseph B. Kadane
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1351683365
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 525

Book Description
Praise for the first edition: Principles of Uncertainty is a profound and mesmerising book on the foundations and principles of subjectivist or behaviouristic Bayesian analysis. ... the book is a pleasure to read. And highly recommended for teaching as it can be used at many different levels. ... A must-read for sure!—Christian Robert, CHANCE It's a lovely book, one that I hope will be widely adopted as a course textbook. —Michael Jordan, University of California, Berkeley, USA Like the prize-winning first edition, Principles of Uncertainty, Second Edition is an accessible, comprehensive text on the theory of Bayesian Statistics written in an appealing, inviting style, and packed with interesting examples. It presents an introduction to the subjective Bayesian approach which has played a pivotal role in game theory, economics, and the recent boom in Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. This new edition has been updated throughout and features new material on Nonparametric Bayesian Methods, the Dirichlet distribution, a simple proof of the central limit theorem, and new problems. Key Features: First edition won the 2011 DeGroot Prize Well-written introduction to theory of Bayesian statistics Each of the introductory chapters begins by introducing one new concept or assumption Uses "just-in-time mathematics"—the introduction to mathematical ideas just before they are applied

An Introduction to the Uncertainty Principle

Author: Sundaram Thangavelu
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0817681647
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 189

Book Description
In 1932 Norbert Wiener gave a series of lectures on Fourier analysis at the Univer sity of Cambridge. One result of Wiener's visit to Cambridge was his well-known text The Fourier Integral and Certain of its Applications; another was a paper by G. H. Hardy in the 1933 Journalofthe London Mathematical Society. As Hardy says in the introduction to this paper, This note originates from a remark of Prof. N. Wiener, to the effect that "a f and g [= j] cannot both be very small". ... The theo pair of transforms rems which follow give the most precise interpretation possible ofWiener's remark. Hardy's own statement of his results, lightly paraphrased, is as follows, in which f is an integrable function on the real line and f is its Fourier transform: x 2 m If f and j are both 0 (Ix1e- /2) for large x and some m, then each is a finite linear combination ofHermite functions. In particular, if f and j are x2 x 2 2 2 both O(e- / ), then f = j = Ae- / , where A is a constant; and if one x 2 2 is0(e- / ), then both are null.

Uncertainty

Author: David Lindley
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0307389480
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
The gripping, entertaining, and vividly-told narrative of a radical discovery that sent shockwaves through the scientific community and forever changed the way we understand the world. Werner Heisenberg’s “uncertainty principle” challenged centuries of scientific understanding, placed him in direct opposition to Albert Einstein, and put Niels Bohr in the middle of one of the most heated debates in scientific history. Heisenberg’s theorem stated that there were physical limits to what we could know about sub-atomic particles; this “uncertainty” would have shocking implications. In a riveting and lively account, David Lindley captures this critical episode and explains one of the most important scientific discoveries in history, which has since transcended the boundaries of science and influenced everything from literary theory to television.

Principles of Risk Analysis

Author: Charles Yoe
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1439857504
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 576

Book Description
In every decision context there are things we know and things we do not know. Risk analysis uses science and the best available evidence to assess what we know-and it is intentional in the way it addresses the importance of the things we don't know. Principles of Risk Analysis: Decision Making Under Uncertainty lays out the tasks of risk analysis i

The Uncertainty Principle in Harmonic Analysis

Author: Victor Havin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642783775
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 547

Book Description
The present book is a collection of variations on a theme which can be summed up as follows: It is impossible for a non-zero function and its Fourier transform to be simultaneously very small. In other words, the approximate equalities x :::::: y and x :::::: fj cannot hold, at the same time and with a high degree of accuracy, unless the functions x and yare identical. Any information gained about x (in the form of a good approximation y) has to be paid for by a corresponding loss of control on x, and vice versa. Such is, roughly speaking, the import of the Uncertainty Principle (or UP for short) referred to in the title ofthis book. That principle has an unmistakable kinship with its namesake in physics - Heisenberg's famous Uncertainty Principle - and may indeed be regarded as providing one of mathematical interpretations for the latter. But we mention these links with Quantum Mechanics and other connections with physics and engineering only for their inspirational value, and hasten to reassure the reader that at no point in this book will he be led beyond the world of purely mathematical facts. Actually, the portion of this world charted in our book is sufficiently vast, even though we confine ourselves to trigonometric Fourier series and integrals (so that "The U. P. in Fourier Analysis" might be a slightly more appropriate title than the one we chose).

Risk, Uncertainty and Profit

Author: Frank H. Knight
Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.
ISBN: 1602060053
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 401

Book Description
A timeless classic of economic theory that remains fascinating and pertinent today, this is Frank Knight's famous explanation of why perfect competition cannot eliminate profits, the important differences between "risk" and "uncertainty," and the vital role of the entrepreneur in profitmaking. Based on Knight's PhD dissertation, this 1921 work, balancing theory with fact to come to stunning insights, is a distinct pleasure to read. FRANK H. KNIGHT (1885-1972) is considered by some the greatest American scholar of economics of the 20th century. An economics professor at the University of Chicago from 1927 until 1955, he was one of the founders of the Chicago school of economics, which influenced Milton Friedman and George Stigler.

Great by Choice

Author: Jim Collins
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062121006
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
Ten years after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns withanother groundbreaking work, this time to ask: why do some companies thrive inuncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? Based on nine years of research,buttressed by rigorous analysis and infused with engaging stories, Collins andhis colleague Morten Hansen enumerate the principles for building a truly greatenterprise in unpredictable, tumultuous and fast-moving times. This book isclassic Collins: contrarian, data-driven and uplifting.

The Certainty of Uncertainty

Author: Mark Schaefer
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 153265345X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 263

Book Description
The world is full of people who are very certain--in politics, in religion, in all manner of things. In addition, political, religious, and social organizations are marketing certainty as a cure all to all life's problems. But is such certainty possible? Or even good? The Certainty of Uncertainty explores the question of certainty by looking at the reasons human beings crave certainty and the religious responses we frequently fashion to help meet that need. The book takes an in-depth view of religion, language, our senses, our science, and our world to explore the inescapable uncertainties they reveal. We find that the certainty we crave does not exist. As we reflect on the unavoidable uncertainties in our world, we come to understand that letting go of certainty is not only necessary, it's beneficial. For, in embracing doubt and uncertainty, we find a more meaningful and courageous religious faith, a deeper encounter with mystery, and a way to build strong relationships across religious and philosophical lines. In The Certainty of Uncertainty, we see that embracing our belief systems with humility and uncertainty can be transformative for ourselves and for our world.

Uncertainty and Information

Author: George J. Klir
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0471755567
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 499

Book Description
Deal with information and uncertainty properly and efficientlyusing tools emerging from generalized information theory Uncertainty and Information: Foundations of Generalized InformationTheory contains comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of resultsthat have emerged from a research program begun by the author inthe early 1990s under the name "generalized information theory"(GIT). This ongoing research program aims to develop a formalmathematical treatment of the interrelated concepts of uncertaintyand information in all their varieties. In GIT, as in classicalinformation theory, uncertainty (predictive, retrodictive,diagnostic, prescriptive, and the like) is viewed as amanifestation of information deficiency, while information isviewed as anything capable of reducing the uncertainty. A broadconceptual framework for GIT is obtained by expanding theformalized language of classical set theory to include moreexpressive formalized languages based on fuzzy sets of varioustypes, and by expanding classical theory of additive measures toinclude more expressive non-additive measures of varioustypes. This landmark book examines each of several theories for dealingwith particular types of uncertainty at the following fourlevels: * Mathematical formalization of the conceived type ofuncertainty * Calculus for manipulating this particular type ofuncertainty * Justifiable ways of measuring the amount of uncertainty in anysituation formalizable in the theory * Methodological aspects of the theory With extensive use of examples and illustrations to clarify complexmaterial and demonstrate practical applications, generoushistorical and bibliographical notes, end-of-chapter exercises totest readers' newfound knowledge, glossaries, and an Instructor'sManual, this is an excellent graduate-level textbook, as well as anoutstanding reference for researchers and practitioners who dealwith the various problems involving uncertainty and information. AnInstructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all theproblems in the book is available from the Wiley editorialdepartment.