Benford’s Law
In 1881, the astronomer Simon Newcomb discovered that in his logarithmic tables the first pages were more worn out than the last. From this he concluded that the digit 1 occurs far more frequently in naturally occurring data than do the other digits. In 1938, the physicist Frank Benford discovered the same law, which has since been named after him.
The exhibit allows you to explore Benford’s Law in a playful way.