Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> Warp wrote:
>> Orchid XP v8 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>>> Well, the sine and cosine functions can't be computed by a finite 
>>> number of additions, subtractions, multiplications, divisions and 
>>> exponents. 
>>
>>   They can if you allow the parameters to be complex numbers (which is 
>> why
>> trigonometric functions are included in the set of elementary functions).
> 
> OK, but that just brings us back to the fact that the exponential 
> operator has to be approximated. ;-)
> 

Did you read the Wikipedia page on closed form expressions?  It's not 
very long and all of these points are addressed there.

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