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I know that it may turn out useless, but this is precisely the reason why I'm asking.

Does any one know of an existing piece of code that would find me the best approximation to a given irrational number using ordinary math symbols and known constants like e, pi etc.?

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The Inverse Symbolic Calculator sounds like what you want (it's not clear from your question what form you have the number in to start with).

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  • $\begingroup$ That's exactly what I needed! Thank you. $\endgroup$
    – Ranza
    Apr 6, 2013 at 8:37
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You can use LLL or PSLQ to approximate your number by a linear combination over the integers of a given finite set of numbers. Or apply them to logarithms to approximate your number as a product of powers of given numbers. In Maple, use the IntegerRelations package.

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    $\begingroup$ The identify() function is easier to start with. $\endgroup$
    – Brendan McKay
    Apr 6, 2013 at 12:49

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