c to compile this, first type "f77 bisect.f" then to run it, type "a.out"

      program bisect
      real x_left,x_right,x_test
      real f_left,f_right,f_test,tol,err_prev
      integer ict

c define the initial left-hand and right-hand endpoints of the interval
c we're going to bisect.      
      x_left = -10.0
      x_right = 10.0
c find the values of the function at the endpoints
      f_left = f(x_left)
      f_right =f(x_right)
c make sure that the problem even makes sense:
      if(f_left*f_right.gt.0.d0) then
         write(6,*)'We do not know if there is a zero in between.'
         stop
      end if

c how close we want to get to the solution:
      tol = 1.e-8
c the counter for the iteration loop:
      ict = 0
c what we're going to test: "is f_test close to zero?"
      f_test = 2*tol

      do while((abs(f_test).gt.tol).and.(ict.lt.100))

c find the values of the function at the endpoints
         f_left = f(x_left)
         f_right =f(x_right)
c define the midpoint
         x_test = (x_left+x_right)/2.0
c find the value of the function at the midpoint
         f_test = f(x_test)

         if (f_left*f_test.lt.0.0) then
c we happen to know that the solution is at x=1, so we use this
c information to define the error
            err_prev = x_test + 1.0
            x_right = x_test
         else
            if(f_test*f_right.gt.0.0) stop
            err_prev = x_test + 1.0
            x_left = x_test
         end if
         write(3,*)' step = ',ict,'   a_i = ',x_left,'   b_i = '
     &            ,x_right,
     &           '    b_i-a_i =', x_right-x_left
         write(6,*)ict,x_right-x_left
         write(4,*)' step=',ict,' root =',x_test,' f(root) =',
     &          f_test
c         write(4,*)'step ',ict,' root ',x_test,' f(root) ',f_test,
c     &       ' (present error)/(previous error) ',(x_test+1)/err_prev
c update the iteration counter
         ict = ict+1
      end do

      stop
      end

ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc
c define the function whose zero we're looking for:
      function f(x)
      real f,x

      f = (x+1.0)*(x-1.0)**2

      return
      end