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   Max Leibman (maxleibman@beige.party)'s status on Sunday, 22-Feb-2026 06:20:42 JST Max Leibman

   In one of my favorite novels, a character says logarithm when they mean algorithm, and every time I come across that passage, I find myself wondering whether it was the author's mistake or the character's.

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     Albert ARIBAUD ✎ (aaribaud@mastodon.art)'s status on Sunday, 22-Feb-2026 06:20:41 JST Albert ARIBAUD ✎

     in reply to

     @maxleibman Wondering more and more, I gather; exponentially so, even.

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     Ken Butler (nxskok@cupoftea.social)'s status on Thursday, 09-Apr-2026 05:40:41 JST Ken Butler

     in reply to

     • Heliograph

     @maxleibman @Heliograph the name "algorithm" comes from the *Iranian* mathematician Al-Khwarizmi (oh, the irony)

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     Max Leibman (maxleibman@beige.party)'s status on Thursday, 09-Apr-2026 05:40:42 JST Max Leibman

     in reply to

     • Heliograph

     @Heliograph Having had Python classes that dealt with algorithms and currently suffering through a precalculus course that includes logarithms, I feel the exact opposite, but your view is totally valid.
     
     In the context of the term in the novel, though, it's pretty clearly an error (it's a discussion about a digital search algorithm).

     Steve's Place repeated this.
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     Heliograph (heliograph@mastodon.au)'s status on Thursday, 09-Apr-2026 05:40:43 JST Heliograph

     in reply to

     @maxleibman also i quite like #logarithm actually much better than #algorithm 📠