History of the Normal Curve
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Abstract
The normal curve is the most well-known statistical tool. This article suggests that the development of the normal curve was accomplished by mathematical impulse on the one hand and practical impulse on the other. At the beginning, it was the aim to find mathematical solution when dealing with events under uncertainty such as gambling and measurement of error which led to the notion that randomness and error could be approximated by the normal distribution. However, the achievement in applying the idea of ‘normal’ to astronomical data and social phenomena was the crucial step that made the normal curve much more recognized. Moreover, it can be clearly seen from the article that the normal curve had been developed under the influence of the Scientific Revolution along with the growth of modern states and industrial society in Europe during the 18th – 19th centuries.
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