1.3, due on September 11

What interested me the most in the reading was the explanation about using exponents and logarithms to make an algorithm stable. I'd like to know what the algorithm is for computing logarithms, because I wonder how that affects the speed of the overall algorithm. I bet this method has a lot of applications in making large calculations.

What was the most difficult to understand was the explanation of "the standard model for floating-point arithmetic", which had a mathematical expression that included variables like precision, exponent, and an s that I didn't understand the purpose of. I really didn't understand the purpose of the expression, and Example 1.3.3 below it didn't really make things clearer. I'd like to go over this in class.

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