Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

It's really just Newton's method for successive approximations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtons_method



And a very clever zeroth approximation.


Exactly, that's the key to the whole thing.

After all if your first approximation is 'in the ballpark' you get a lot of precision in one go. Newtons method would run 'infinitely long' to reach an arbitrary precision, normally the cutoff is some acceptable error.

By getting within the ballpark on the first try you can get within acceptable error with one more approximation step.

(acceptable depends on the use of the result of course).




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: