815 bytes added
, 20:59, August 24, 2007
The '''Sieve of Eratosthenes''' is a simple [[algorithm]] for identifying all prime numbers up to a certain integer. It was discovered by the ancient [[Greek]] [[mathematician]] [[Eratosthenes]].
The [[algorithm]] is as follows:
# List sequentially all the integers to be checked up to and including the maximum integer, such as "2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ..." (By definition, the number 1 is not [[prime]]).
# Take the first number (e.g., "2"), and strike from the list all of its multiples (e.g., "4, 6, 8, 10, ...").
# Take the second unstriked number (e.g., "3"), and likewise strike from the list all of its multiples (e.g., "6, 9, 12, 15, ...").
# Continue this process until all multiples have been checked for primality.
# the unstriked numbers are all the [[prime]]s on the original list.
[[category:mathematics]]