Linear Models Straight in Quantitative Methods

This chapter is intended to introduce you to the use of algebra in solvingbusiness problems. For some people the very word algebra conjuresup impressions of abstract and impenetrable jumbles of letters andnumbers that are the preserve of mathematical boffins. Certainly partsof the subject of algebra are complex, but our concern here is with algebraictechniques that help to represent or model business situations.In doing this we are following in the footsteps of the 'father ofalgebra',...
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This chapter is intended to introduce you to the use of algebra in solvingbusiness problems. For some people the very word algebra conjuresup impressions of abstract and impenetrable jumbles of letters andnumbers that are the preserve of mathematical boffins. Certainly partsof the subject of algebra are complex, but our concern here is with algebraictechniques that help to represent or model business situations.In doing this we are following in the footsteps of the 'father ofalgebra', Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi. In the ninth centuryal-Khwarizmi wrote Al-jabr wa'l-muqabala, which might be translated as'Calculation Using Balancing and Completion'. The first part of theArabic title gives us the word algebra. Although al-Khwarizmi was ascholar working at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, he saw his task invery practical terms, namely to focus on