A Toss of the Coin

The randomness in a coin toss, it appears,
is introduced by sloppy humans.
-from NPR story linked below

A few relevant links on the topic of tossing coins:

• A random coin-toss generator.
• An article in Science News about the bias inherent in coins.
  (from article linked above)
  During World War II, South African mathematician John Kerrich carried out 10,000 coin tosses while interned in a German prison camp. However, he didn't record which side the coin started on, so he couldn't have discovered the kind of bias the new analysis brings out.
• An NPR story on the bias of the coin.
• Persi Diaconis' website.
• The most complete discussion of the flipping coins that you will find anywhere.
• The ever reliable Stephen Jay Gould weighing in on a certain toss-up of yore.

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