15 Math Concepts Every Data Scientist Should Know

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Dynamical Systems

In this chapter, we introduce the concept of modeling a dynamic system – a system that changes over time according to some mathematical law. Why is that useful? Many systems we encounter in real-world data science are dynamical systems. They output data, and to understand that data we need to understand the underlying system. If we have a mathematical understanding of the underlying dynamical system, we can also use data from that system to make inferences and predictions about how the system will behave in the future – one of the key goals of doing useful data science.

This chapter will take a deliberate data science perspective on dynamical systems. Many traditional applied math books on dynamical systems will explain ...