In numerical analysis, the secant method is a root-finding algorithm that uses a succession of roots of secant lines to better approximate a root of a function f. The secant method can be thought of as a finite difference approximation of Newton's method. However, the method was developed independently of Newton's method, and predated the latter by over 3,000 years.
Read more about Secant Method: The Method, Derivation of The Method, Convergence, Comparison With Other Root-finding Methods, Generalizations, A Computational Example
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—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)