Newton's method

American  

noun

Mathematics.

1. a process for approximating the roots of an equation by replacing the curve representing the equation by its tangent and finding the intersection of the tangent with the x-axis and iterating this process.

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Etymology

Origin of Newton's method

After I. Newton

Example Sentences

As an example, inequality constraints are often handled via penalty functions49 and variations of gradient descent or Newton’s method.

From Nature

Newton's method of dealing with these problems was mainly geometric, and the insufficiency of this method was apparent.

From Project Gutenberg

Stokes also used a method, analogous to Newton’s method of crossed prisms, for the purpose of analysing the fluorescent light.

From Project Gutenberg

In 1687, Newton's method of fluxions was first published, twenty years after its invention, and then because the friends of Leibnitz, the author of the "Differential Calculus," claimed priority of discovery.

From Project Gutenberg

Another instance of computation carried to paradoxical length, in order to illustrate a method, is the solution of x3 - 2x = 5, the example given of Newton's method, on which all improvements have been tested.

From Project Gutenberg