Errata

p. xi, line 25: the word "whomever" should be "whoever"

 

P. 356, Harvey Silverglate's name is misspelled (the second l was omitted). Given the context, I hope he doesn't sue!

P. 405, Harvey Silverglate's name is misspelled (the second l was omitted) in the reference to his book.

P. 417, Harvey Silverglate's name is misspelled (the second l was omitted).

Hard copy printings after August 20, 2023 will have the above errors corrected.

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P. 234, there is a reference to a paper by P. Anderson, but the citation does not appear in the Notes and References section. The citation is: P. W. Anderson, "More Is Different", Science, 177(4047), 393-396 (1970).

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.177.4047.393

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Prof. Emeritus of Mathematics and Computer Science, Jon M. Kane (University of Wisconsin - Whitewater) has identified a terminology error in Chapter 2 that is repeated elsewhere in the book. Lightly edited, he says:

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"... the tendency of errors balancing themselves out when you take many measurements is not due to the Central Limit Theorem; it is due to a simpler result called the Law of Large Numbers. The Central Limit Theorem is a more powerful result that tells about the distribution of the means tending toward the normal distribution. The Law of Large Numbers just talks about the probability of the sample mean being far away from the true population mean, and how this tends to zero as the number of measurements increases."

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Prof. Kane also notes that the discussion in section 15.2 is only correct as we currently understand the problem. It has not been proven that there are no algorithms more efficient than a complete exploration of the possibilities; in the future there could be something faster.

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For a discussion of how dynamical systems (Chapter 11) can model political polarization (Chapter 18), see https://physicsworld.com/a/the-laws-of-division-physicists-probe-into-the-polarization-of-political-opinions/ by Anna Demming, published November 21, 2023.

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P. 266, in the line following equation 13.12, there is a reference to equation (3.12)

    which should be a reference to equation (13.12).

P. 269, section 12.2 should be 13.2.

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There are (at least) two places where the symbol * should be replaced by ×: twice on P. 174, equation 9.2, and on P. 298, equation 15.6. Both * and × are used to signify multiplication. Both have other uses or meanings. The × multiply symbol is sometimes (lazily or because of typeface limitations) substituted by x or X, and * can sometimes mean convolution as discussed on P. 31-32.

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P. 344, top line under 18.4: Gutenberg should have only one t; similarly, Gutenberg should have only one t on P. 345, line 9. Due to the spelling error, the index fails to link Gutenberg to these pages.

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On P. 345, an alternative explanation of anarchists is suggested by Harvey Silverglate's former law school roommate: "Anarchists don't deny the utility of cooperation or organization; they deny the legitimacy of forced organization through law and other efforts of the State."

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