Earlier quoted context omitted.
It actually had nothing to do with a computer! It was the luck of either Teela Brown, or Mr. Brandt depending on how you read the genetic trait of luck. If you haven't read ringworld, you should. It's really quite good. But stop before you get to ringworld's children or whatever it's called. Niven's furry fetish is in full force later in the series.
Yeah, he was less focused on the specifics earlier. 51 mentions of "rishathra" in the Ringworld Engineers.
Also he fell into the trap that many science fiction authors do of listening to the critics who complained about the math not working. Pretty much every book after the first in that series was just a way for him to try to make his made up world work in real life. Not great.
Neutron Star is phenomenal though.