fermi

Figuring out something quickly by just using estimates to the closest power of ten, because sometimes you just want to know if the thing you're doing is worth or is gonna cost ten bucks, a hundred, or a cool grand. Named after Fermi Estimation, a trick used by Enrico Fermi to wow his fellow nerds at parties by estimating shit without knowing 100% everything about the problem, sometimes without even writing shit down. You're not going to get exact numbers, but you're gonna get close enough. Most notably, dude estimated the power of a fucking nuclear bomb by just dropping papers as the bomb went off and measuring how far the shockwave moved that shit — and he was only off by a bit.