proposal to rename "interpolate", was: Interpolation function

> Is there a function in Maxima that will allow me to use data points to
> obtain values by linear (or otherwise) interpolation of the data?

there is a function named "interpolate", but its purpose is to find a
root of an equation by a numerical method.

i propose that "interpolate" be renamed to "solve_numerically",
with the eventual goal that the function would be beefed up to
use a more powerful method (or a combination of several
methods) than it does at present. in the near term, i think
just renaming it is helpful.

we could also consider having "solve (eq, x), numer" invoke a
numerical method such as solve_numerically or something else.

at present there doesn't seem to be any other built-in general purpose
function to find roots numerically. there are a couple of functions
for numerical roots of polynomials.

comments?

robert dodier