English

Original proofs of Stirling's series for log(n!)

History and Overview 2017-01-25 v1

Abstract

Transcription into modern notations of the derivation by Stirling and De Moivre of an asymptotic series for log(n!)\log(n!), usually called Stirling's series. The previous discovery by Wallis of an infinite product for π\pi, and later results on the divergence of the series are also presented. We conclude that James Stirling has priority over Abraham de Moivre for Stirling's formula and Stirling's series.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1701.06689,
  title  = {Original proofs of Stirling's series for log(n!)},
  author = {Jacques Gélinas},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1701.06689},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

9 pages, 34 references