Inside Your Calculator
From Simple Programs to Significant Insights
Chapter One
INTRODUCTION
"Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with," the Mock Turtle replied,
"and the different branches of Arithmetic-Ambition,
Distraction, Uglification and Derision."
-Lewis Carroll
The word algorithm is central to mathematics and computer science. It
means a step-by-step problem solving procedure. All of us have learned
many algorithms in our schooling. The algorithm for "long division"
is a good example. I still recall the oversimplified version we students
pronounced as a refrain for our fourth-grade teacher: "divide, multiply,
subtract, bring down, repeat." It never occurred to that teacher-or to
us students, of course-that it might be appropriate for us ... read full excerpt from Inside Your Calculator: From Simple Programs to Significant Insights ebook
