Around 1800, Laplace and Gauss developed the least-squares method for combining observations, which improved upon methods then used in astronomy and geodesy.
ɚɹˈaʊnd wˈʌn θˈaʊzənd ˈeɪthˈʌndɹɪd, lˈæpleɪs ænd ɡˈaʊs dɪvˈɛləpt ðə lˈiːstskwˈɛɹz mˈɛθəd fɔːɹ kəmbˈaɪnɪŋ ɑːbzɚvˈeɪʃənz, wˌɪtʃ ɪmpɹˈuːvd əpˌɑːn mˈɛθədz ðˈɛn jˈuːzd ɪn ɐstɹˈɑːnəmi ænd dʒˌiːoʊdˈɛsi.