1768 JOHNSON Pref. to Shaks. Wks. IX. 298 Conjectural criticism has been of great use in the learned world.
Johnson, Bryan Stanley, Travelling people 1963
source: www.oed.com
Normal Distribution function;
The definitions of the Normal distribution are often vague, and incomplete. How does one explain the Normal curve defined by the function:
y= 1/σ √2π exp- 1/2 (t-µ/σ)^2 (tϵ R)
.........the normal distribution is sometimes described simply as a bell-shaped distribution. This description leaves a good deal to be desired: it is true that normal distribution curves, often called normal curves, are bell-shaped, but not all bell-shaped distribution curves are necessarily those of normal distributions.
Mills T M, 2001, Problems in Probability, World Scientific, QA273M55