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June 10, 2020

#2318: Dynamic Entropy explain

Dynamic Entropy

[One panel only with text and a few lines and arrows. There are two columns each with a heading. Beneath each heading is a quote written on four lines. Below the quote, in grey font, and indented, starting with a hyphen, with the text aligned to the right of this are five lines of text. This explains who the quote belongs to and where it was stated (in brackets at the end). From the bottom of each of these two gray text paragraphs gray curved arrows goes down to two gray lines. Below each of these two lines are one large word per line. They are again in black text.]

Dynamic

“It’s impossible to use the word ‘dynamic’ in the pejorative sense… Thus, I thought ‘Dynamic Programming’ was a good name.”

- Richard Bellman, explaining how he picked a name for his math research to try to protect it from criticism (Eye of the Hurricane, 1984)

Entropy

“You should call it ‘Entropy’… No one knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage.”

- John von Neumann, to Claude Shannon, on why he should borrow the physics term in information theory (as told to Myron Tribus)

Dynamic Entropy

[Caption below the panel:]

Science Tip: If you have a cool concept you need a name for, try “Dynamic Entropy.”