Zipf's law ( /ˈzɪf/), an empirical law formulated using mathematical statistics, refers to the fact that many types of data studied in the physical and social sciences can be approximated with a Zipfian distribution, one of a family of related discrete power law probability distributions. The law is named after the American linguist George Kingsley Zipf (1902–1950), who first proposed it (Zipf 1935, 1949), though the French stenographer Jean-Baptiste Estoup (1868-1950) appears to have noticed the regularity before Zipf. It was also noted in 1913 by Felix Auerbach.
Read more about Zipf's Law: Motivation, Theoretical Review, Statistical Explanation, Related Laws
Famous quotes containing the word law:
“At the end of one millennium and nine centuries of Christianity, it remains an unshakable assumption of the law in all Christian countries and of the moral judgment of Christians everywhere that if a man and a woman, entering a room together, close the door behind them, the man will come out sadder and the woman wiser.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)