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:
“Every library should try to be complete on something, if it were only the history of pinheads.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)
“You that would judge me do not judge alone
This book or that, come to this hallowed place
Where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon;
Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace;
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends
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—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized—the question involuntarily arises—to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)