In one variable, a linear function can be written as follows ... can be seen by scatter plots on a graph following a certain pattern but that pattern is not linear, meaning the representation ...

Of course, there are several ways to find a linear function to fit this data ... sometimes a new technique comes along to change the pattern. One example is the famous Fosbury flop as used ...

Before the invention of computers, applied mathematics dealt only with linear differential equations, which can amplify a pattern but not generate it. In 'The chemical basis of morphogenesis ...