[SystemSafety] De perfidiis calculatorum (pace Oscar Wilde)
Olwen Morgan
olwen at phaedsys.com
Fri Nov 20 13:56:49 CET 2020
All,
We tend to take the simpler end of computing for granted. This may be
unwise. The following table shows the results given by six calculators
when performing numerical integration with respect to x, from 0.1 to 1,
of the function sin(2*pi/x):
Canon F789SGA 1.401636757e-1
Casio fx-991ES PLUS 1.401636757e-1
Casio fx-991EX 1.401636757e-1
Hewlett-Packard HP50g 1.401636757e-1 (rounded to ten SF)
Sharp EL-W506 1.390363882e-1 *** WTF?! ***
Sharp EL-W506T 1.390363882e-1 "
Perhaps surprisingly, the Casio fx-991EX, a top-end, school-level,
non-programmable, non-graphical calculator, was actually faster than the
HP50g, a top-end, professional-level, programmable, graphical device.
I hope that neither Boeing engineers nor school students are using
either of the Sharp devices.
Olwen
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