Editing Numerical analysis (section)

==History==
The field of numerical analysis predates the invention of modern computers by many centuries. [[Linear interpolation]] was already in use more than 2000 years ago. Many great mathematicians of the past were preoccupied by numerical analysis,<ref name="20c"/> as is obvious from the names of important algorithms like [[Newton's method]], [[Lagrange polynomial|Lagrange interpolation polynomial]], [[Gaussian elimination]], or [[Euler's method]]. The origins of modern numerical analysis are often linked to a 1947 paper by [[John von Neumann]] and [[Herman Goldstine]],<ref name="watson" /><ref>
{{cite book |editor1-link=Adhemar Bultheel |editor1-first=Adhemar |editor1-last=Bultheel |editor2-first=Ronald |editor2-last=Cools |title=The Birth of Numerical Analysis |volume=10 |publisher= World Scientific |date=2010 |isbn=978-981-283-625-0 |url={{GBurl|pKZpDQAAQBAJ|pg=PR17}} }}
</ref>
but others consider modern numerical analysis to go back to work by [[E. T. Whittaker]] in 1912.<ref name="watson" >
{{cite book |first=G.A. |last=Watson |chapter=The history and development of numerical analysis in Scotland: a personal perspective |chapter-url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/206717434.pdf |title=The Birth of Numerical Analysis |publisher=World Scientific |date=2010 |isbn=9789814469456 |pages=161–177 }}
</ref>

[[File:Handbook of Mathematical Functions, by Abramowitz and Stegun, cover.jpg|right|thumb|128px|NIST publication]]
To facilitate computations by hand, large books were produced with formulas and tables of data such as interpolation points and function coefficients. Using these tables, often calculated out to 16 decimal places or more for some functions, one could look up values to plug into the formulas given and achieve very good numerical estimates of some functions. The canonical work in the field is the [[NIST]] publication edited by [[Abramowitz and Stegun]], a 1000-plus page book of a very large number of commonly used formulas and functions and their values at many points. The function values are no longer very useful when a computer is available, but the large listing of formulas can still be very handy.

The [[mechanical calculator]] was also developed as a tool for hand computation. These calculators evolved into electronic computers in the 1940s, and it was then found that these computers were also useful for administrative purposes. But the invention of the computer also influenced the field of numerical analysis,<ref name="20c"/> since now longer and more complicated calculations could be done.

The [[Leslie Fox Prize for Numerical Analysis]] was initiated in 1985 by the [[Institute of Mathematics and its Applications]].