New Kind of Science : Part 2
Cellular Automata & Other Visual Tools in a New Mathematics
Thursday evenings, 6:30 - 8:30 pm 
Free overview January 21th
Sliding scale fees : $250 - $350
This advanced course focuses on chapters 9 - 12 (which are fully half of the book) of Stephen Wolfram's A New Kind of Science. It is open to students who have completed NKS 1. It includes a review lecture of NKS 1, specifically the main principles from chapters 1 - 8.
Chapter topics:
- Chapter 9 : Fundamental Physics : applications including the 2nd law of thermodynamics; cosmological models; the nature of space, time and their relationship; relativity; elementary particles; and gravity.
- Chapter 10 : Processes of Perception and Analysis : randomness and complexity; data compression; visual perception; auditory perception; statistical analysis; cryptography; and human thinking.
- Chapter 11 : The Notion of Computation : universality and universal automata; rule 110 as a universal cellular automaton; and universality in Turing Machines.
- Chapter 12 : The Principle of Computational Equivalence : this chapter is an in-depth exploration of Wolfram's most controversial (but also his most important) principle that has astounding practical and philosophical consequences for the nature of the universe and human consciousness.