A million random digits with 100,000 normal deviates
by Rand Corporation · first published 1955
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"Not long after research began at RAND in 1946, the need arose for "random numbers" that could be used to solve problems of various kinds of experimental probability procedures. These applications, called Monte Carlo methods, required a large supply of random digits and normal deviates of high quality, and the tables presented here were produced to meet those requirements.". "This book was a product of RAND's pioneering work in computing, as well a testament to the patience and persistence of researchers in the early days of RAND. The tables of random numbers in this book have become a stan
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A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates, by the RAND Corporation, 1955. Preferred is the 2001 edition w/ new forward.
on “Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?” ↗…piqued my curiosity so I would like to answer it. There is an authoritative source of random numbers. In 1955, The RAND Corporation (a Cold War-era think tank) published a wonderful book entitled "A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates". Amazon.com has a copy of it, including some amusing reviews: http://www.amazon.com/Million-Random-Digits-Normal-Deviates/... . For a good source of truly random numbers accessible from an API, I personally…
on “Instead of charging $X, why not charge $2X with prob 1/2 and $0 with prob 1/2?” ↗"A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates" (https://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1418.html) Had you described this to me in conversation, I'd have been incredulous.
on “Classic RAND Papers” ↗Why would you send "A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates" to Norman Borlaug, the inventor of Dwarf Wheat? Is this some kind of hipster pranking?
on “Zinc – Order products with a few lines of code” ↗