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I was tempted to just plug in 52 into Stirling's formula n!~~((n/e)^n)sqrt(2pi*n) but the result isn't as 'nice'. What makes 54 special and how would you know
by vinchuco 10y ago
I was tempted to just plug in 52 into Stirling's formula n!~~((n/e)^n)sqrt(2pi*n) but the result isn't as 'nice'.
What makes 54 special and how would you know to try it instead?
What makes a number computationally 'nice' for humans? Is it just less computation steps under relaxed precision?
Is there a collection of heuristics for approximation?(This might be just Numerical Analysis)
Or better yet, ome sort of approximate calculator software that gives error bounds?
I've heard this book is good (from HN) but haven't gotten to reading it: Street-fighting mathematics.
https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/free_download/9780262514293_Street_Fighting_Mathematics.pdf https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/free_dow...
- ColinWright 10y agoIt's nice because 2.7 is close to e, and 2.7 is a nice factor of 54, which is close to 52. It's worth starting from the fact that e^3 ~ 20 and see if you can make that work. I'd suggest calculating 50! using e^3 ~ 20 (somehow!) - that's the next version I'll be doing. It's an interesting exercise.