Wallace Books

This book is highly recommended for its clarity; all steps are explained in detail, there are clear examples and the answers to all exercises. The only complaint could be that the independent variable is real and not complex. All books should be written like the author does.

This book is lucid, engaging and compriehensive, covering the spectrum between personal and statistical information interleaved with philosophical perspective. I couldn't recommend it more highly!

This book published by NASA (NASA Special Publication, NASA SP-451) in early 1984 describes the High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO) Missions which were developed to examine and analyze the nature of the high energy universe, stellar radiation and galactic radiation. Some of the topics covered in this book include creative violence, stellar explosions, cosmic rays, superbubbles, stellar coronas, collapsed stars, neutron stars, degenerate dwarf stars, black holes, X-ray images of galaxies, galactic nuclei, spiral galaxies, galactic clusters, the mystery of the missing mass, and cosmic fire. The book also covers the design of the mission, the spacecraft and the spacecraft instruments.

It is important to note that while this book has been out of print for many years; many excellent quality used copies of this book in hardback are available cost between $10 - 25.

Myself and other probably liked this book Because it contains information for even the smallest things like a Shaak,Eopie,Peko Peko,or a Fambaa. With the places like the Theed Royal Palace on Naboo to Watto's Kunk Shop on Tatooine. And who can forget the two lovable Protocol and beeping Astromech Droids R2-D2 and C-3PO droid types are in here even though its a finishied one but it's still as lovable. All in all I give it a five star rating!

An unusual combination of good writing, excellent descriptions Of the beauty of Newfoundland, an interwoven plot and a profound presentation of objective science and philosophy.

Paul S. Grose M.D.

The Starlight Medallions, by Frank Wallace, is a great story with a New England flair, written for school children but resonating with adults. Four children and a Basset Hound named Walter get caught up in an adventure involving Vikings, witches, pirates, caves, and an ominous character named "Splitface." An entire town gets caught up in and transformed by the action. Wallace writes with rhythm and grace. Every chapter leaves the reader hungry for what comes next. Right up there with Philip Pullman and Jonathan Strouds' best.

I may never finish a proper review. So let me at least present the Table of Contents and a quick guide for Philosophers of Science. The non-technical chapters are rich with new (or uncommon) insights about Induction, Explanation, Theory Choice, and even the Arrow of Time.

Table of Contents
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1. Inductive Inference
2. Information
3. Strict Minimum Message Length (SMML)
4. Approximations to SMML
5. MML: Quadratic Approximations to SMML
6. MML Details in Some Interesting Cases
7. Structural Models
8. The Feathers on the Arrow of Time
9. MML as a Descriptive Theory
10. Related Word

Philosophers of Science should read:
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* Chapter 1, at least through 1.5 (18 pages).
- - MML as a precise rendering of Occam's Razor
- - Why the best explanation is the shortest
- - MML as induction (pure Bayesianism as deductive)
- - MML explanations, induction, unification, etc.
* Chapter 9 (12 pages)
- - The big picture: can you use MML to describe scientific revolutions?

Those interested in the Arrow of Time should read
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* Chapter 8 (38 pages)
- - A very careful account of reversibility and irreversibility.
- - Accurate simulations to convince people not already convinced of Boltzmann's claim that entropy will increase in both directions.
- - A novel account of asymmetry, suggesting that while we predict the future, we EXPLAIN the past, in the MML sense. That is, MML inference naturally picks out the past we remember, as it is the best explanation of the present.

Anyone wanting more details should begin with:
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* Chapter 2 (87 pages)
- - Shannon Information, coding, and entropy
- - Algorithmic Complexity
- - Information, Inference, and Explanation

I higghly recommend this book for a starting point in Stochastic optimization. It is
perfectly suitable for a person with no background in this field. The best part is
Wiley has released the copyright on the book, and the authors made the text available to the scientific community: it can be downloaded for free. Folllow the link at the Stochastic Programming Community Home page (SP resources-Textbooks).

William A Wallace, a Dominican friar from the Eastern Province in the United States and an accomplished scholar in the history of science presents to the "students of science" (p. xxii) a small serving from the Summa Theologica, the towering work of St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274). Prof. Wallace is among the few who understands contemporary physics as well as the natural philosophy from the ancient Greek academies and medieval universities. Thus, it is a rare treat when a scholar is capable of uniting all three ages (Ancient, Medieval and Contemporary) by focusing on physics.

The goal of Prof. Wallace's presentation of Questions 65-74 of the First Part of the Summa Theologica is to give the reader a "thoughtful appreciation" (p. xxii) for the physics of Aquinas. The subject of questions 65-74 are "purely material creatures" (xx) and are investigated with "delicacy and care" as to show Aquinas' "true greatness." According to Wallace, St. Thomas demonstrates an "open-mindedness to all competing views" (p. xxiii).

Sure, a contemporary student of physics may object to the goal of Prof. Wallace, since studying Aquinas' work on material creatures might seem "antiquarian", "outmoded", and lacking in anything of "lasting value" (p. xxi). However, Wallace responds to the objections by pointing out that Aquinas' "knowledge of the facts... known to his contemporary is impeccable" and accurate (p. xxii). Plus, Aquinas investigation into the topics of physics is analogous to "the planting of seeds that were later to flower into the breath-taking science of our day" (p. xxii).

I suggest that if a person wishes to face the challenge of uniting physics with the teachings in the Book of Genesis, then he or she could find clarity in the "insights that are profitable and enriching" (p. xxiii) of St. Thomas' work on the "Hexaemeron" and the six days of creation (p. xx.)

The Cambridge Univ. Press 2006 paperback is consistent with the 1967 original hardback edition. The book contains both Latin and English versions of the Summa Theologica. Prof Wallace provides very valuable footnotes. And the appendices in the back are a treasure for Catholics who seriously wish to grow in appreciation of the Book of Genesis and contemporary physics.

There is a copy of this book in the Macomb County library here in Michigan. This is the only book I'm aware of that tells the story of the early parks along the Clinton River in Macomb County, north of Detroit. The elderly author does a fine job relating his memories of these parks when he was quite young. It is a soft bound book and the 5000 copies were quickly bought up by local history buffs.