[ Thanks to BeOpen
for this link. ]
“As Python becomes more widely accepted and the Python community
broadens, it becomes more difficult for one side of the community
to see what the other is doing. In response to one comment we
received about Python only being useful as a web programming
language, we decided it was time to write about the Python random
number module, and use it for a couple of simple Monte Carlo
simulations.”
“When you import the random module, Python uses a Wichmann-Hill
pseudo-random number generator. All computer random number
generators are generally pseudo-random number generators, because
software programs can only generate nearly random sequences. Since
this is an article on Python, not on random number generation, we
won’t go further into the topic, except to say that the
Wichmann-Hill algorithm is thought to be pretty good.”
“So what, then, can you do with a random number generator? One
of the more useful applications of random numbers in scientific
computing is something called Monte Carlo simulation. The name
refers to the gambling city, and denotes that the technique is
based upon random processes, such as dice rolls.”