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Literary notes about extrapolate (AI summary)

The term "extrapolate" in literature is often used to describe the process of predicting or inferring details that extend beyond the immediately available information. It may refer to determining an object's future path based on its known trajectory [1] or even forecasting wider cultural shifts from limited data [2]. Characters are sometimes portrayed as having the remarkable ability to derive conclusions rapidly, as when one is noted to "extrapolate at the drop of an equation" [3], while in other contexts it serves as a narrative tool for acknowledging the inherent uncertainty in making predictions from incomplete evidence [4, 5]. In scientific contexts within literary works, the word underscores the attempt to extend empirical data into a broader, often speculative, framework [6].
  1. Extrapolate the course of this object"-he gave the particulars-"and provide information on its trajectory."
    — from The Runaway Asteroid by Michael D. Cooper
  2. Our people are able to extrapolate the future racial—and to some degree cultural—development of the entire planet after about two weeks works.
    — from Membership Drive by Murray F. Yaco
  3. Cochrane cocked an eye at Jamison, who could extrapolate at the drop of an equation.
    — from Operation: Outer Space by Murray Leinster
  4. He had to extrapolate in part, guess the rest.
    — from Tangle Hold by F. L. (Floyd L.) Wallace
  5. But it's like trying to extrapolate backwards, and I just don't have enough data.
    — from Syndrome by Thomas Hoover
  6. The scientists had worked late, trying to extrapolate their data into some kind of prediction.
    — from The Flaming Mountain: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin

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