morgan@unix.SRI.COM (Morgan Kaufmann) (11/16/90)
Morgan Kaufmann announces a new title in its Series on Machine
Learning, edited by Pat Langley (NASA Ames Research Center and
ISLE)
COMPUTATIONAL MODELS OF
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY AND THEORY FORMATION
Edited by Jeff Shrager (Xerox PARC) and Pat Langley
Scientific discovery has long fascinated both philosophers and
historians, but only in the past few decades have the tools become
available that enable computers to model this complex process.
This collection reports on recent advances in the study
of scientific discovery and theory formation based on the
computational techniques of artificial intelligence and cognitive
science. As the chapters in this book demonstrate, the last few
years have seen the work on this topic expand dramatically from a
few isolated efforts into a major enterprise, involving researchers
from many disciplines and focusing on many aspects of scientific
behavior.
The contributors to this volume come from a variety of paradigms,
including artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, and the
philosophy and history of science. The topics studied also range
widely, including the discovery of empirical laws, the formation
and revision of theories, the design of experiments, and the
evaluation of competing hypotheses. However, both researchers and
approaches are united in their goal of developing and understanding
computational mechanisms that demonstrate scientific behavior.
Many of the chapters focus on historical examples from the fields
of physics, chemistry, geology and biology, giving enlightening
accounts of discovery in these domains.
The chapters in this volume provide convincing evidence that the
techniques of AI and cognitive science can produce coherent models
of complex scientific behavior.
Available now.
498 pages, clothbound
Price: $39.95 (ordering information follows contents)
ISBN 1-55860-131-7
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Computational Approaches to Scientific Discovery
Jeff Shrager and Pat Langley
Chapter 2 The Conceptual Structure of the Geological
Revolution
Paul Thagard and Greg Nowak
Chapter 3 On Finding the Most Probable Model
Peter Cheeseman
Chapter 4 An Integrated Approach to Empirical Discovery
Bernd Nordhaussen and Pat Langley
Chapter 5 Deriving Laws Through Analysis of Processes and
Equations
Jan M. Zytkow
Chapter 6 A Unified Approach to Explanation and Theory
Formation
Brian Falkenhainer
Chapter 7 Theory Formation by Abduction: A Case Study Based
on the Chemical Revolution
Paul O'Rorke, Steven Morris, and David
Schulenburg
Chapter 8 A Computational Approach to Theory Revision
Shankar Rajamoney
Chapter 9 Experimentation in Machine Discovery
Deepak Kulkarni and Herbert A. Simon
Chapter 10 Hypothesis Formation as Design
Peter D. Karp
Chapter 11 Diagnosing and Fixing Faults in Theories
Lindley Darden
Appendix A Dale Moberg and John Josephson
Chapter 12 Designing Good Experiments To Test Bad Hypotheses
David Klahr, Kevin Dunbar, and Anne L. Fay
Chapter 13 Scientific Discovery in the Layperson
Michael J. Pazzani and Margot Flowers
Chapter 14 Commonsense Perception and the Psychology of Theory
Formation
Jeff Shrager
Chapter 15 Five Questions for Computationalists
Ryan D. Tweney
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THE MORGAN KAUFMANN SERIES IN MACHINE LEARNING, EDITED BY PAT
LANGLEY
Produced in cooperation with the Institute for the Study of
Learning and Expertise, the series reports recent progress in the
study of mechanisms that learn from experience and improve their
performance over time.
Another Title of Interest:
READINGS IN MACHINE LEARNING, edited by Jude Shavlik (University of
Wisconsin-Madison) and Thomas Dietterich (Oregon State University)
Available now
853 pages, softbound
ISBN 1-55860-143-0
Price: $39.95
_________________________________________________________________
Ordering Information:
These books are available now at better technical bookstores or by
ordering directly from the publisher at:
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers
2929 Campus Drive, Suite 260
San Mateo, CA
94403
USA
Phone: (800)745-READ, (415) 578-9911
Fax: (415) 578-0672
For shipping, please add:
$3.50 for the first book and $2.50 for each additional for
book rate shipping to the U.S. and Canada (2-3 weeks);
$6.50 for the first book and $3.50 for each additional for
surface shipping to all other areas. (4-8 weeks)
Call or fax for quotations on other shipping methods.
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county.