Heuristics for Empirical Discovery.
Abstract
In this paper, the authors review their experiences with the BACON project, which has focused on empirical methods for discovering numeric laws. The six successive versions of BACON have employed a variety of discovery methods, some very simple and others quite sophisticated. They examine methods for discovering a functional relation between two numeric terms, including techniques for detecting monotonic trends, finding constant differences, and hill-climbing through a space of parameter values. They also consider methods for discovering complex laws involving many terms, some of which build on techniques for finding two-variable relations. Finally, they introduce the notions of intrinsic properties and common divisors, and examine methods for inferring intrinsic values from symbolic data. In each case, they describe the various techniques in terms of the search required to discover useful laws.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 25, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA145324
Entities
People
- G. L. Bradshaw
- H. A. Simon
- P. Langley
Organizations
- Carnegie Mellon University