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It seems that Wilkinson mentioned Condition Number when introducing the concept of backward error in his "Rounding Errors in Algebraic Process", which contributed to his Turing Award in 1970.

I would like to know when the concept of "condition number" first appeared in literature? In fact, I have got the impression that the condition number is really like a rebrand of Newton's derivative for inverse problems but also applies to non-continuous cases.

zell
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    You may also want to include "Elasticity" in your searches. In economics, the elasticity is defined in the exact same way as the condition number, and it has surely been introduced long before the 70's. – PierreCarre Mar 02 '20 at 10:03
  • @PierreCarre Very good point. Branding seems to be the key to the success of many of these "new" concepts. – zell Mar 02 '20 at 13:13

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