An algorithm is logical procedure that is applied to a problem in order to solve that problem. Computers commonly use algorithms. Algorithm is a noun, related words are algorithmic, algorithmically. The word algorithm is derived from the Old French word algorisme, which was the term for the Arabic numeral system.
A logarithm is a quantity that represents the power to which the base or fixed number must be raised in order to produce a specific number. Logarithms were used extensively before calculators were invented in order to reduce the time needed for calculations. The word logarithm was coined in the early 1600s by John Napier, a Scottish mathematician, from the Greek word logos which means proportion, ratio, and the Greek word arithmos, which means number.
Examples
But advocates for big data due process argue that much more must be done to assure the appropriateness and accuracy of algorithm results. (The New York Times)
San Francisco is seeking to modernize its bail system by using a computer algorithm to predict whether a defendant might re-offend or bolt if freed from jail, an effort to reform long-standing practices that many in the city’s justice system believe penalized the poor and opened up potential racial bias. (The San Francisco Chronicle)
Here’s the thing, though: The Mets have entered that portion of the season where the equation ought to be simpler than whatever basic logarithm Collins is employing right now. (The New York Post)
No matter how layered the logarithm or how wide the parameters, pure digits remain relatively tin-eared to context and energetic atmosphere, not to mention the fugal lineage of human breath and blood. (The Australian)
My children are always amazed when I tell them that I did, in eighth grade, write a computer program for the science fair that would do logarithm conversions. (The Times Record News)