thesis

[gusl]

This is the latest version of my thesis: Automating Normal Science: Reusing Exemplars in Physics Problem-Solving (although it's as much about engineering problems as it is about physics)

Comments much appreciated! If you don't have the time to read very much, please use of the table of contents to jump to your favorite chapter.

And please question and correct me as much as you like!

Comments

[trufflesniffer.livejournal.com]

Have you considered writing parts of it as 'formalisations' of Kuhnian philosophy of science? (e.g. quote from Kuhn, then formalisation of what you believe he meant) - 'appeal to authority' seems to convince even amongst more rational people.

Overall, very interesting. THanks for sharing.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

Well, the concept of exemplar is Kuhn's. We are taking a Kitcherian interpretation, i.e. "an exemplar is a derivation".

I don't think there are any other Kuhnian concepts that need to be formalized... Although we say that:
* A theory / paradigm is a collection of derivations
* Normal Science simply works by recombining fragments of previously-seen derivations.

Congratulations!

[fare.livejournal.com]

For the credits, please use an accent on my surname: Far\'e. Mixing my surname and my family name is a bit odd. If you want to be formal, include the whole of Fran\c cois-Ren\'e Rideau; if informal is OK, then Far\'e is enough. If you want to be complete, then it's Fran\c cois-Ren\'e ``Far\'e'' Rideau. And then there is my vietnamese name...

Oh, and did or didn't you use fare-matcher, in the end?

Re: Congratulations!

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

Mixing my surname and my family name is a bit odd.

Oh, that's a shame, but I can see why. In English and Dutch people do this freely, but in Portuguese it seems odd... either that, or it makes you sound like a DJ or some sort of artist.

The choice is yours really. How exactly do you wish to be credited?

No fare-matcher. I might have used it in my previous project, but I ended up doing something completely different, and cdr gave me all I needed that I would get from fare-matcher.

Re: Congratulations!

[fare.livejournal.com]

I suppose that in such a document, I should go by Fran\c{c}ois-Ren\'e Rideau.