Measure the missing feature

A journey through polynomial features with Botie.

Data Preparation · A journey with Botie

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Botie's notebook

Could a Straight-Line Calculation Describe a Curve?

Part 1 of 3

Measured relationships do not always change at a constant rate. An instrument's response may grow more quickly at larger inputs, so a straight line leaves a systematic pattern in its errors. We need more flexibility, but we would like to retain a fitting method we understand.

Sources for this history

Legendre (1805), On the Method of Least Squares
Gergonne (1815, translated 1974), The Application of the Method of Least Squares to the Interpolation of Sequences

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