History of the Gaussian Function

The function is believed to have first appeared for approximating large binomial coefficients in the 2nd edition (1718) of Doctrine of Chances by Abraham de Moivre (a book on probability).^D.2 The third and final edition of this book is still in print as of this writing.

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About the Author: Julius Orion Smith III
Julius Smith's background is in electrical engineering (BS Rice 1975, PhD Stanford 1983). He is presently Professor of Music and Associate Professor (by courtesy) of Electrical Engineering at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), teaching courses and pursuing research related to signal processing applied to music and audio systems. See http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jos/ for details.