Referring to a module by a string without using eval()

[jeanbigboute at gmail.com]

Thanks to all for the prompt replies.  I look forward to trying both approaches.  

I wasn't aware that subpackages such as numpy.random and such could be imported after numpy was imported at the top level.  For some reason I thought it would cause confusion.  

The functools.reduce and class approaches also look very powerful beyond my immediate need.

--- JBB