James Stirling's early work on acceleration of convergence (Q1205990): Difference between revisions

In 1719, James Stirling (1692-1770) published a paper, Methodus Differentialis Newtoniana Illustrata, in which he proposed a technique for accelerating convergence of series such as \(\sum 2n(2n-1)^{-1}\) (\(=\log 2\)). The author reproduces the relevant section in original Latin and English translation, and provides an analysis. Stirling's 1730 book, Methodus Differentialis, carried investigations further. Its Proposition 30, given here in Latin and English, presents a type of exhaustion technique to improve the approximation to the limit of a sequence, given only a few initial terms. The author explains the method and shows how Stirling found remarkable estimates of \(\pi\) and \(\log 2\). [A modern treatment in this vein is given by \textit{D. Shanks} in J. Math. Phys. 34, 1-42 (1955; Zbl 0067.286)].