History
The formula was first discovered by Abraham de Moivre in the form
De Moivre gave an expression for the constant in terms of its natural logarithm. Stirling's contribution consisted of showing that the constant is . The more precise versions are due to Jacques Binet.
Read more about this topic: Stirling's Approximation
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of this country was made largely by people who wanted to be left alone. Those who could not thrive when left to themselves never felt at ease in America.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)
“While the Republic has already acquired a history world-wide, America is still unsettled and unexplored. Like the English in New Holland, we live only on the shores of a continent even yet, and hardly know where the rivers come from which float our navy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)