Daniel Shanks

Daniel Shanks (1917-1996) was an American mathematician known for his work in number theory, particularly in the areas of primality testing and the computation of π (pi). He is perhaps best known for creating the Shanks-Tonelli algorithm for finding square roots modulo a prime and for his contributions to the theory of continued fractions. In addition to his research, Shanks was a prolific author, and he wrote several important mathematical papers and books.