oded@wisdom.weizmann.ac.IL (Oded Maler) (07/19/89)
Interpolation/Extrapolation =========================== The general problem is to predict the value of a function f:X->Y on some point/s (elements of X) based on a sample {(x1,f(x1)),...}. The difference between extra and inter polation as I see it (I'm not so fast in opening dictionaries) is meaningful only if there is some order relation on X, so that being *between* x1 and x2 is well defined. So it seems that extrapolation is the more general term. One can try to define the domain X to be the power set (set of all subsets) of the human race and define inclusion as a partial order etc., but why bother. We may as well call it induction. Anyway, who needs those Latin words - we know *we* are smarter than *you* whatever the semantics is (:-)) Oded Maler Department of Applied Mathematics Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot 76100, Israel (oded@wisdom.bitnet or oded@wisdom.weizmann.ac.il)