Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!netnews.upenn.edu!cattell.psych.upenn.edu!barkdoll
From: barkdoll@cattell.psych.upenn.edu (Edwin Barkdoll)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Stuck on pc random number generation : help
Keywords: beta testing
Message-ID: <1666@cattell.psych.upenn.edu>
Date: 12 Sep 89 15:37:43 GMT
References: <7561@microsoft.UUCP> <1991@leah.Albany.Edu> <6474@columbia.edu>
Reply-To: barkdoll@cattell.psych.upenn.edu.UUCP (Edwin Barkdoll)
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Pennsylvania
Lines: 11


I don't have a copy of the article on hand but Brent (1974) has a routine that
returns a pseudo-random (which is all you're gonna get with a computer) number
from a normal distribution.  I'm pretty sure the code is in fortran but I won't
swear to it.


R. P. Brent (1974) Algorithm 488. _Comm. ACM_

sorry I don't have the volume or page numbers but the algorithm number should
make it easy to find.