The principles of science : $b a treatise on logic and scientific methodJevons, William Stanley
Philosophy
The principles of science : $b a treatise on logic and scientific method
Jevons, William Stanley
Logic; Science -- Methodology
In some questions the number of permutations may be restricted
and reduced by various conditions. Some things in a group may
be undistinguishable from others, so that change of order will
produce no difference. Thus if we were to permutate the letters of
the name *Ann*, according to our previous rule, we should obtain
3 × 2 × 1, or 6 orders; but half of these arrangements would be
identical with the other half, because the interchange of the two
*n*’s has no effect. The really different orders will therefore be
(3 . 2 . 1)/(1 . 2) or 3, namely *Ann*, *Nan*, *Nna*. In the word
*utility* there are two *i*’s and two *t*’s, in respect of both of
which pairs the numbers of permutations must be halved. Thus we obtain
(7 . 6 . 5 . 4 . 3 . 2 . 1)/(1 . 2 . 1 . 2) or 1260, as the number of
permutations. The simple rule evidently is--when some things or letters
are undistinguished, proceed in the first place to calculate all the
possible permutations as if all were different, and then divide by
the numbers of possible permutations of those series of things which
are not distinguished, and of which the permutations have therefore
been counted in excess. Thus since the word *Utilitarianism* contains
fourteen letters, of which four are *i*’s, two *a*’s, and two *t*’s,
the number of distinct arrangements will be found by dividing the
factorial of 14, by the factorials of 4, 2, and 2, the result being
908,107,200. From the letters of the word *Mississippi* we can get in
like manner 11!/(4! × 4! × 2!) or 34,650 permutations, which is not
the one-thousandth part of what we should obtain were all the letters
different.
*Calculation of Number of Combinations.*
Although in many questions both of art and science we need to calculate
the number of permutations on account of their own interest, it far
more frequently happens in scientific subjects that they possess but
an indirect interest. As I have already pointed out, we almost always
deal in the logical and mathematical sciences with *combinations*, and
variety of order enters only through the inherent imperfections of our
symbols and modes of calculation. Signs must be used in some order,
and we must withdraw our attention from this order before the signs
correctly represent the relations of things which exist neither before
nor after each other. Now, it often happens that we cannot choose all
the combinations of things, without first choosing them subject to the
accidental variety of order, and we must then divide by the number of
possible variations of order, that we may get to the true number of
pure combinations.
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