KAM is a computer program that can automatically plan, monitor, and interpret numerical experiments with Hamiltonian systems with two degrees of freedom. The program has recently helped solve an open problem in hydrodynamics. Unlike other approaches to qualitative reasoning about…

An investigation was carried out on the contents of the architectural texts in order to illuminate written architectural knowledge. The thesis takes as its case study the required reading list for Introduction to Architecture course at Yale College, Yale University,…

We have developed a method and prototype program for assisting two experts in their attempts to construct a single, consensus knowledge base. We show that consensus building can be effectively facilitated by a debugging approach that identifies, explains, and resolves…

Ontic is an interactive system for developing and verifying mathematics. Ontic's verification mechanism is capable of automatically finding and applying information from a library containing hundreds of mathematical facts. Starting with only the axioms of Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, the Ontic…

The act of designing in architecture is a complex process. Many designers, when probed for reasons to explain their actions, are either unable to answer questions, or provide explanations that are not true descriptions of their actions. Frequently the designer…

The activity of designing and developing large, complex, discrete, physical, and engineered products faces the challenges in the physical product system, the organization of people, and the larger systems in which the product resides-the natural and societal systems. This thesis…

In a Communication Bootstrapping system, peer components with different perceptual worlds invent symbols and syntax based on correlations between their percepts. I propose that Communication Bootstrapping can also be used to acquire functional definitions of words and causal reasoning knowledge.…

This thesis is concerned with the systematic investigation and application of knowledge within the architectural design studio. The thesis takes, as a point of departure in the development of architectural epistemology, a model of knowledge developed by Yehuda Elkana, in…

When faced with challenging technical problems, R&D personnel would often turn to technical papers to seek inspiration for a solution. The building of a corpus of such papers and the easy retrieval of relevant papers by the user in his…

We prove that the scale map of the zero-crossings of almost all signals filtered by the second derivative of a gaussian of variable size determines the signal uniquely, up to a constant scaling and a harmonic function. Our proof provides…