Part II. Iterative Computations
Computers are certainly good at looping, and many computations are iterative. But loops are where errors can build up and overwhelm the chance for any meaningful results.
Chapter 4 shows that even seemingly innocuous operations, such as summing a list of numbers, can get us into trouble. Examples show how running floating-point sums can gradually lose precision and offer some ways to prevent this from happening.
Chapter 5 is about finding the roots of an algebraic equation, which is another way of saying, “Solve for x.” It introduces several iterative algorithms that converge upon solutions: bisection, regula falsi, improved regula falsi, secant, Newton's, and fixed-point. This chapter also discusses how to decide ...
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