[Maxima] question about solve

[Richard Fateman]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu 
> [mailto:maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu] On Behalf Of 
> Alexandru Cardaniuc
> Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2008 8:16 PM
> To: maxima at math.utexas.edu
> Subject: [Maxima] question about solve
> 
> 
> I have the following polynomial: e^x - 3*x^2
> 
>
That is not a polynomial.

solve tries to find exact closed form solutions. It told you it couldn't
when it returned answers of the form x=function(x).
Since it couldn't find roots, converting the answer to floating point
numbers doesn't help much.

If you want approximate solutions, you should use other methods.