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"Numerical calculations History."
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Calculated values : finance, politics, and the quantitative age
Modern political culture features a deep-seated faith in the power of numbers to find answers, settle disputes, and explain how the world works. Whether evaluating economic trends, measuring the success of institutions, or divining public opinion, we are told that numbers don't lie. But numbers have not always been so revered. Calculated Values traces how numbers first gained widespread public authority in one nation, Great Britain. Into the seventeenth century, numerical reasoning bore no special weight in political life. Complex calculations were often regarded with suspicion, seen as the narrow province of navigators, bookkeepers, and astrologers, not gentlemen. This changed in the decades following the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Though Britons' new quantitative enthusiasm coincided with major advances in natural science, financial capitalism, and the power of the British state, it was no automatic consequence of those developments, William Deringer argues. Rather, it was a product of politics--ugly, antagonistic, partisan politics. From Parliamentary debates to cheap pamphlets, disputes over taxes, trade, and national debt were increasingly conducted through calculations. Some of the era's most pivotal political moments, like the 1707 Union of England and Scotland and the 1720 South Sea Bubble, turned upon calculative conflicts. As Britons learned to fight by the numbers, they came to believe, as one calculator wrote in 1727, that \"facts and figures are the most stubborn evidences.\" Yet the authority of numbers arose not from efforts to find objective truths that transcended politics, but from the turmoil of politics itself.-- Provided by publisher
Book
When Computers Were Human
Before Palm Pilots and iPods, PCs and laptops, the term \"computer\" referred to the people who did scientific calculations by hand. These workers were neither calculating geniuses nor idiot savants but knowledgeable people who, in other circumstances, might have become scientists in their own right. When Computers Were Human represents the first in-depth account of this little-known, 200-year epoch in the history of science and technology. Beginning with the story of his own grandmother, who was trained as a human computer, David Alan Grier provides a poignant introduction to the wider world of women and men who did the hard computational labor of science. His grandmother's casual remark, \"I wish I'd used my calculus,\" hinted at a career deferred and an education forgotten, a secret life unappreciated; like many highly educated women of her generation, she studied to become a human computer because nothing else would offer her a place in the scientific world. The book begins with the return of Halley's comet in 1758 and the effort of three French astronomers to compute its orbit. It ends four cycles later, with a UNIVAC electronic computer projecting the 1986 orbit. In between, Grier tells us about the surveyors of the French Revolution, describes the calculating machines of Charles Babbage, and guides the reader through the Great Depression to marvel at the giant computing room of the Works Progress Administration. When Computers Were Human is the sad but lyrical story of workers who gladly did the hard labor of research calculation in the hope that they might be part of the scientific community. In the end, they were rewarded by a new electronic machine that took the place and the name of those who were, once, the computers.
eBook
The Computer from Pascal to von Neumann
In 1942, Lt. Herman H. Goldstine, a former mathematics professor, was stationed at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. It was there that he assisted in the creation of the ENIAC, the first electronic digital computer. The ENIAC was operational in 1945, but plans for a new computer were already underway. The principal source of ideas for the new computer was John von Neumann, who became Goldstine's chief collaborator. Together they developed EDVAC, successor to ENIAC. After World War II, at the Institute for Advanced Study, they built what was to become the prototype of the present-day computer. Herman Goldstine writes as both historian and scientist in this first examination of the development of computing machinery, from the seventeenth century through the early 1950s. His personal involvement lends a special authenticity to his narrative, as he sprinkles anecdotes and stories liberally through his text.
eBook
Study of Temperature Field Inhomogeneities in Parallel Wire Strand Sections under ISO834 Fire
An accurate prediction of temperatures of parallel wire strands is essential to determine the fire-induced mechanical responses of cable-supported bridges. In this paper, the theoretical formula applicable to the temperature field calculation of parallel wire strand sections is established based on the basic theory of heat transfer, and its accuracy is verified. An equivalent steel round bar numerical model of the parallel wire strand is established, and the temperature history of the parallel wire strand section under ISO834 fire is analyzed using the theoretical formula and the equivalent steel round bar numerical model. The results show that the heating law of each layer steel wires of the parallel wire strand section is basically the same and all have a tendency to approach the fire source temperature with the increase of fire time. Due to the existence of thermal resistance, large temperature gradients occur in the parallel wire strand sections. The temperature field of the parallel wire strand section shows more significant inhomogeneous distribution than that of its equivalent steel round bar section due to the influence of the cavities. It indicates that the traditional equivalent steel round bar model does not genuinely reflect the inhomogeneous temperature rising characteristics of the parallel wire strand section. The temperature of the surface layer steel wires of the parallel wire strand section and its equivalent steel round bar section is very close. In contrast, the temperature difference of the inner steel wires is significant, i.e., the parallel wire strand section has a larger temperature gradient than its equivalent steel round bar section.
Journal Article
Reconstructing the slip velocities of the 1202 and 1759 CE earthquakes based on faulted archaeological structures at Tell Ateret, Dead Sea Fault
Archaeological structures built across active faults and ruptured by earthquakes have been used as markers to measure the amount of displacement caused by ground motion and thus to estimate the magnitude of ancient earthquakes. The example used in this study is the Crusader fortress at Tel Ateret (Vadum Iacob) in the Jordan Gorge, north of the Sea of Galilee, a site which has been ruptured repeatedly since the Iron Age. We use detailed laser scans and discrete element models of the fortification walls to deduce the slip velocity during the earthquake. Further, we test whether the in-situ observed deformation pattern of the walls allows quantification of the amount both sides of the fault moved and whether post-seismic creep contributed to total displacement. The dynamic simulation of the reaction of the fortification wall to a variety of earthquake scenarios supports the hypothesis that the wall was ruptured by two earthquakes in 1202 and 1759 CE. For the first time, we can estimate the slip velocity during the earthquakes to 3 and 1 m/s for the two events, attribute the main motion to the Arabian plate with a mostly locked Sinai plate, and exclude significant creep contribution to the observed displacements of 1.25 and 0.5 m, respectively. Considering a minimum long-term slip rate at the site of 2.6 mm/year, there is a deficit of at least 1.6 m slip corresponding to a potential future magnitude 7.5 earthquake; if we assume ~5 mm/year geodetic rate, the deficit is even larger.
Journal Article
The fanciful optimism of Miguel Sánchez-Mazas. Let us calculate... = Freedom and Justice
May 2020 marked the 25ᵗʰ anniversary of the death of Miguel Sánchez-Mazas, founder of Theoria. An International Journal of Theory, History and Foundations of Science, and regarded as the person who brought mathematical logic to Spain. Here we present some of his biographical features and a summary of his contributions, from his early work in the 1950s - introducing contemporary advances in logic and philosophy of science in a philosophically backward milieu dominated by the scholasticism of that era in Spain - to the development of a project of Lebnizian lineage aimed at producing an arithmetic calculation that would elude some of the difficulties confronting Leibniz's calculus.
En mayo de 2020 se cumplen 25 años del fallecimiento de Miguel Sánchez-Mazas, fundador de Theoria. An International Journal of Theory, History and Foundations of Science y considerado como el introductor de la lógica matemática en España. En esta contribución presentamos algunos sus rasgos biográficos, así como un resumen de sus aportaciones, desde las iniciales en la década de los cincuenta del siglo xx — introduciendo los avances en lógica y filosofía de la ciencia contemporáneos en un medio filosóficamente retrasado como el dominado por la escolástica de aquel tiempo en España— hasta el desarrollo de un proyecto de estirpe lebniziana orientado a elaborar un cálculo aritmético que eludiera algunos de los problemas con los que se vio confrontado el calculo de Leibniz.
Journal Article
Agent zero
The Final Volume of the Groundbreaking Trilogy on Agent-Based Modeling
In this pioneering synthesis, Joshua Epstein introduces a new theoretical entity: Agent_Zero. This software individual, or \"agent,\" is endowed with distinct emotional/affective, cognitive/deliberative, and social modules. Grounded in contemporary neuroscience, these internal components interact to generate observed, often far-from-rational, individual behavior. When multiple agents of this new type move and interact spatially, they collectively generate an astonishing range of dynamics spanning the fields of social conflict, psychology, public health, law, network science, and economics.
Epstein weaves a computational tapestry with threads from Plato, Hume, Darwin, Pavlov, Smith, Tolstoy, Marx, James, and Dostoevsky, among others. This transformative synthesis of social philosophy, cognitive neuroscience, and agent-based modeling will fascinate scholars and students of every stripe. Epstein's computer programs are provided in the book or on its Princeton University Press website, along with movies of his \"computational parables.?
Agent_Zero is a signal departure in what it includes (e.g., a new synthesis of neurally grounded internal modules), what it eschews (e.g., standard behavioral imitation), the phenomena it generates (from genocide to financial panic), and the modeling arsenal it offers the scientific community.
For generative social science, Agent_Zero presents a groundbreaking vision and the tools to realize it.
eBook
APPROACHES FOR THE CALCULATION OF RAYLEIGH DAMPING COEFFICIENTS FOR A TIME–HISTORY ANALYSIS
Direct numerical integration of the differential equations of motion is widely used to analyse a structure behaviour under the action of seismic loads. Whatever the reason is, an engineer is faced with a problem of calculating Rayleigh damping coefficients. In the direct method, a damping matrix is formed by a linear combination of the mass and stiffness matrices multiplied by Rayleigh coefficients α and β respectively. To calculate the damping coefficients α and β, an engineer need two circular frequencies (ω1, ω2) defining the frequency range which contribute to the response of the structure and a damping ratio (ξ). As far as one knows, Rayleigh damping coefficients have significant impact on the structure response to seismic loads therefore the design values of the damping coefficients should be justified. When the modal superposition method is used, the engineer is able to account accurately for damping, because one can use a material-damping ratio (fraction of critical damping). In this paper, the authors carry out time-history analyses of a fixed base building subjected to seismic loads by the modal superposition and direct integration methods. In the direct method, damping properties of the building are taken into account with Rayleigh damping coefficients calculated on different approaches. The building response to seismic loads are compared by the response spectra calculated upon the time-histories retrieved from the modal superposition and direct methods. The least conservative approach of calculating damping coefficients is proposed for the time-history analysis with Rayleigh damping.
Journal Article
Acalculia and Dyscalculia
Even though it is generally recognized that calculation ability represents a most important type of cognition, there is a significant paucity in the study of acalculia. In this paper the historical evolution of calculation abilities in humankind and the appearance of numerical concepts in child development are reviewed. Developmental calculation disturbances (developmental dyscalculia) are analyzed. It is proposed that calculation ability represents a multifactor skill, including verbal, spatial, memory, body knowledge, and executive function abilities. A general distinction between primary and secondary acalculias is presented, and different types of acquired calculation disturbances are analyzed. The association between acalculia and aphasia, apraxia and dementia is further considered, and special mention to the so-called Gerstmann syndrome is made. A model for the neuropsychological assessment of numerical abilities is proposed, and some general guidelines for the rehabilitation of calculation disturbances are presented.
Journal Article