This is the story of how we learned to fake the most natural thing in the world. What it cost us. And the strange places we still go, even now, to steal a little of the real thing back.
In this Episode
Bernice Brown: the RAND statistician whose job was to hunt for a pattern inside a million digits and sign her name only when she could not find one
The electronic roulette wheel: RAND's random number making machine and why its raw output drifted into bias
Stanisław Ulam: the mathematician whose card game in a hospital bed became the Monte Carlo method, and the reason anyone needed randomness by the millions in the first place
John von Neumann: the middle square method, and the resulting "state of sin"
This show is independently produced. You can support the show by joining the show's Patreon. Patreon members get access to "Found in the Margins" bonus episodes and help make the show possible. You can also donate via Buy Me a Coffee.
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And don't forget to sign up to receive Notes from the Machine with each episode.
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör
Daina Bouquin. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Daina Bouquin och inte av,
eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.
