
Important Algorithms That Helped Define Math, Computing, Physics - tangentspace
https://interestingengineering.com/15-of-the-most-important-algorithms-that-helped-define-mathematics-computing-and-physics
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j2kun
This article is a bit vapid, not to mention full of ads and distracting
nonsense.

For a more modern and nuanced list, check out the "top 10 algorithms with the
greatest influence on applied mathematics in the 20th century"

[http://blog.press.princeton.edu/2016/04/27/nicholas-j-
higham...](http://blog.press.princeton.edu/2016/04/27/nicholas-j-higham-the-
top-10-algorithms-in-applied-mathematics/)

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tangentspace
Thanks for the link. The author is an editor of the Princeton Companion to
Applied Mathematics, which also contains very high quality writing and a book
I recommend to anyone interested in mathematics and engineering.

I agree that this is a flawed article: the ads are irritating, the grammar is
flawed, and calling boolean algebra an algorithm is inaccurate.

But looking past the flaws, I wouldn't describe it as vapid. I see it as more
of a very high level survey of some truly important algorithms targeted at
general population and students. This kind of writing can be an incredibly
important source of inspiration for young people.

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messe
> 4\. Boolean (Binary) Algebra

Doesn't exactly qualify as an algorithm.

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tabtab
The B-tree tree-search algorithm (and variations of) is very common for
database indexing, and is found in some file systems.

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compsciphd
QR codes have something to do with Eigenvalues?

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gregsadetsky
QR Algorithm:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_algorithm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_algorithm)

Q and R stand for matrices.

QR Code:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code)

QR stands for Quick Response

The QR Code in the article encodes the string "Algorithm For Computing
Eigenvalues" and is meant as a pun/joke, I suppose.

