Equation 1 · Part 5 · Darwin's Finches: The Beak the Grants Measured for Forty Years
superscript
superscript
What this part means
A raised number can be a power. When it is a label or bound, it selects a case or the upper limit of a sum; the formula’s structure distinguishes these uses.
Its job in the formula
A raised mark can be a power or an index. Its position and the surrounding notation determine which.
Full expression→superscript→Article meaning
The passage around this formula
Heritability is what turns a measured selection differential into a testable prediction, through the simplest quantitative-genetics identity in the field, the breeder’s equation: . where S is the selection differential actually measured on the population in one generation, is the trait’s heritability, and R is the response: the amount the population’s mean should shift in the next generation, if the difference between survivors and non-survivors was genetic rather than purely environmental. Grant and Grant ran exactly this check on their own data, comparing the mean of a trait before a selection episode with the mean of the same trait in the following generation. The…
Learn the underlying idea
An exponent tells how a base is used in multiplication. In x³, x is the base and 3 is the exponent: x³ = x × x × x.
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Sources cited in the surrounding passage
These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.