Customer Reviews

A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates

5 star:		(237)
4 star:		(73)
3 star:		(39)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(56)

 

 

Such a terrific reference work! But with so many terrific random digits, it's a shame they didn't sort them, to make it easier to find the one you're looking for.

If you like this book, I highly recommend that you read it in the original binary. As with most translations, conversion from binary to decimal frequently causes a loss of information and, unfortunately, it's the most significant digits that are lost in the conversion.

The book is a promising reference concept, but the execution is somewhat sloppy. Whatever generator they used was not fully tested. The bulk of each page seems random enough. However at the lower left and lower right of alternate pages, the number is found to increment directly.

While the printed version is good, I would have expected the publisher to have an audiobook version as well. A perfect companion for one's Ipod.

I took a class in statistics in college. I used this book to help me select random phone numbers for a poll I was conducting for my class project. (The most popular household cleanser in the greater Siouxland area is Bon Ami, by the way.) One of those phone calls was answered by the woman who is now my wife. We've been happily married for ten years! Thank you, RAND.

For a supposedly serious reference work the omission of an index is a major impediment. I hope this will be corrected in the next edition.

At first, I was overjoyed when I received my copy of this book. However, when an enemy in my department showed me HER copy, I found that they were the OPPOSITE of random - they were IDENTICAL.

It is very frustrating, let alone dangerous for my agents in the field; do not rely on this book for generating codes!

Its list of deviates is very nice for someone in my profession, however.

After exploring the "Search Inside This Book" feature and snooping through a few of the embedded prose poems, I knew that this was a book I needed on my shelf. (Though I do admit I ordered it (ostensibly) for my girlfriend's birthday--and borrowed it when she was done!) I finished the tome in one enraptured sitting and, despite a limp third act denouement, the book was taut, well paced, and fresh.

I do, however, have one concern. I stumbled upon the book while looking up the ISBN number for Haynes' Owner Workshop Manual for Honda 2-valve Twins (1977 - 1985) -- and I got to thinking... Perhaps running across ISBN# 1 85010 359 3 in Rand's "A Million Random Digits" wasn't a coincidence -- perhaps some of the digits aren't that *random* at all. I don't mean to be an alarmist--and I certainly don't bandy about charges of plagiarism lightly--but if you will, please note this excerpt from the author's tender preface:

738 9377504 03478 47589 43 705 47309 67490 27348 57490 57443509 37405 40978 39794 "31847 57303!" 57049 325740 57403 7509347?

Now, we can't help but notice a completely different "voice" littered throughout the book. For example, in the opening of the penultimate chapter:

704478 489 705 47390 278 574409 3705 978794 9847 57303 57049 32740 574035093 473

Or the crassness in the "bedroom" scene:

473268978 971 23473 3785 [expletive] 3434987 3490809 34709 34908 40700 34087 439874 97835

And after the embarrassment (we'd all rather forget) concerning Wm. T Metzger's otherwise breathtaking "Table of 10,000 square roots: Gives square roots up to 4 digits on the basis of the square roots arranged in consecutive order 1 to 10,000 and the numbers ranging from 1 to 100,000,000" the publishing world can't afford another snafu.

A great read. Captivating. I couldn't put it down. I would have given it five stars, but sadly there were too many distracting typos. For example: 46453 13987. Hopefully they will correct them in the next edition.

This book does not even come close to delivering on its promise of one million random digits. My expectations were high after reading the first sentence, which contained ten unique digits. However, the author seems to have exhasted his creativity in this initial burst, because the other 99.999% of the book is filler in which those same ten digits are shamelessly reused!

If you are looking for a larger offering of numerals in various bases, I highly recommend "Peter Rabbit's ABC and 123".