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Conference rusure::math

Title:Mathematics at DEC
Moderator:RUSURE::EDP
Created:Mon Feb 03 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:2083
Total number of notes:14613

544.0. "Fast Division." by CHOVAX::YOUNG (Chi-Square) Fri Jul 25 1986 22:11

    I have just read in Science News that Ernest F. Brickell of Bell
    Communications Research (Bell Labs, I think) claims to have developed
    a new algorithim for division of large numbers.  The article stated
    that the new algorithim allowed the answer of a n-digit division
    to be output while it was being read in, minus some constant
    offset.
    
    Questions:
    
    	1.  The Art of Computer Programming (Vol 2, p295) says that
    division can be done in O(n + k).  Whats the difference here?
    
    	2.  What, if any is the significance of this?
    
    	3.  Most interesting of all, the article reported that they
    were applying for a patent on the process.  Can you REALLY patent
    an algorithim?  If so, shouldn't we all be paying royalties to Turing
    and von Nueman?
    
    Any other comments?
    
    
    -- Barry
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