In the beginning of the year 1665, I found the method of approximating series and the rule for reducing any dignity of any binomial into such a series.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Before venturing on so large an undertaking as is involved in the task I had set myself I consulted a number of distinguished scholars as to the desirability of such a series.
A series is filled with compromises.
There was a project at Lawrence Livermore National Labs where many years ago they went down this path for scripting and controlling very large numerical calculations.
I was rather foolish in saying that I did not like arithmetic and to learn figures when I did - I was not thinking quite what I was about. The sums can be done better, if I tried, than they are.
Then when I reached college I realized that many people had thought about the problem during the 18th and 19th centuries and so I studied those methods.
The first hundred thousand - that was hard to get, but afterwards, it was easy to make more.
I was a very early believer in the idea of convergence.
I remember candy rationing until I was, like, 7.
A pure mathematical series would be one in which each term is derived from the preceding term by a rule.
Culturally, I think we have operated as if we had the formula figured out, and it was all about optimizing, in its various constituent parts, the formula. Now it is about discovering the new formula.