MAA Writing Awards
A Generic Approach to Iterative Methods
Award: Carl B. Allendoerfer
Year of Award: 1983
Publication Information: Mathematics Magazine, Vol. 55, (1982), pp. 259-273
Summary: The Contraction Mapping Theorem provides a unifying principle for a large number of iterative processes.
About the Author: (from Mathematics Magazine, Vol. 55 (1982)) Clifford Wagner grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and studied mathematics at the Universities of Cincinnati and Michigan before earning a Ph.D. in topology at the State University of New York at Albany. An expository lecture by Professor Gerald Rising (SUNY at Buffalo) sparked his interest in contraction mappings. Additional inspiration was derived from Donald Wagner and Ray Charles. Dr. Wagner is Associate Professor of Mathematics at The Capitol Campus, an upper-division and graduate campus of The Pennsylvania State University.
