Why the normal distribution ? What exactly what is it ? Well, when things like your height, your weight, your IQ, your batting average, your blood pressure, the size of your big toe, is the result of many things, some things having a positive influence, others a negative influence, then the final result often obeys the normal distribution. This is very important since, although it doesn't tell us anything with 100% accuracy, it does tell is a lot. Statisticians can use this information to make detailed claims like ... we can be 95% sure that between 50% and 60% of the voters are going to vote for Joe Bloe. Just look at one of the bouncing balls below as it starts to fall and imagine it as some physical characteristic of yours (maybe your IQ) that is being influenced in many ways, some positively and negatively. The final location of where it drops is the final result. How did you turn out; a genius, in the middle with the rest of us, or at the bottom ?

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Last modified on Saturday, November 27, 1999