Abstract
THE text-book treatment of linear curves of best fit purports to give the best estimate of the relation w1 = pv1 between variables of true value w1, v1, from a set of measured values, w, v. It is applicable when only one parameter is subject to errors of measurement. Thus, when only the values of w are subject to error, the best estimate is given by the curve which minimizes the sum of squares of deviation of w, that is, the regression line of w on v ; and for errors in v only, the regression line of v on w should be taken.
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References
Seares, F. H., Astrophys. J., 100, 255 (1944).
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AUSTEN, A., PELZER, H. Linear 'Curves of Best Fit'. Nature 157, 693–694 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/157693b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/157693b0
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