Historical Study on Error Theory in Japan

Abstract

The textbook of error theory for the national licensed surveyor's examination has been used the standard deviation based on “Handbuch der Vermessungskunde” by Jordan (1895). This standard deviation is called “Der mittlere Fehler” and it is denoted by m＝√［ε²］/n, where ［　］ indicates summation, ε is an error and n is the number of measurements. In general, the standard deviation is defined by σ＝√E［(X－μ)²］, where X is a randum variable and μ＝E［X］. This paper studies on the historical error theory in Japan.