tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840985738235902482.post641856452356603169..comments2024-03-27T07:14:48.488-04:00Comments on John the Math Guy: Logarithms and the end of the worldJohn Seymourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11350487038873935295noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840985738235902482.post-22394341189899272452013-01-01T20:34:36.034-05:002013-01-01T20:34:36.034-05:00Steve, Would I joke about something as important ...Steve, Would I joke about something as important as Tom Lehrer's true avocation?<br /><br />Gary, I was sloppy in my words use. I intended for "curve fitting" to apply generally to any method where you make a curve of some sort kinda go through a bunch of data points.<br /><br />As for the least-squares method of curve fitting, there is a bit of a dispute as to who first came up with the idea. Legendre was the first to publish (in 1805). Gauss followed up in 1809, but claimed he had been using it since 1795. <br /> John Seymourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11350487038873935295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840985738235902482.post-29431477770499062832013-01-01T18:14:31.761-05:002013-01-01T18:14:31.761-05:00Dear John, I thought Gauss invented curve-fittin...Dear John, I thought Gauss invented curve-fitting to <br />extrapolate the orbit of Ceres. What did Kepler do<br />re curev-fitting? [P.S. about curve-fitting, see<br />some of the examples at www.civilized.com [and see "amusements"<br />there.] gary knott, garyknott@gmail.comAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10139191791965755779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840985738235902482.post-9671130849840716982013-01-01T12:32:23.621-05:002013-01-01T12:32:23.621-05:00I've been a long-time fan of Tom Lehrer, but h...I've been a long-time fan of Tom Lehrer, but had no idea that he was also a mathematician (I initially assumed you were joking about that). I checked Wikipedia and learned that he taught at MIT.Steve Tesmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04595487880736056406noreply@blogger.com