New York University
Room 329, 251 Mercer St.
New York NY 10012
Office hours: Tuesday, 10:00-12:00, Thursday 3:00-4:00.
My central current research project is the problem of representing and
reasoning about simple physics
and
chemistry experiments, such as the one depicted here, from Michael Faraday's
The Chemical History of a Candle,
in which hydrogen is produced by passing
steam
over heated iron filings. Understanding such experiments involves combining
formal scientific knowledge, such as the chemical equations; commonsensical
physical and spatial knowledge, such as the knowledge that the gas will be
trapped in the inverted test tube; and knowledge of the perceptual and
manipulative powers of the experimenters, such as knowing they can see the
water level lowering in the test tube, though they cannot see the hydrogen
gas directly. A particular focus of my work is on the use of
partial knowledge of the geometry involved; for instance, the exact shape of
the test tube is not critical, but it is critical that it does not have a
hole at the top.
If you are interested in commonsense reasoning, you should check out the recent symposium Commonsense 2011, at the AAAI Spring Symposium, Stanford University, March 21-23, 2011. You might also like to look at the Common Sense Problem Page , and at the Collection of Winograd Schemas I have compiled.
Books
Recent Research Papers
Complete List of Research Papers
Research Papers with Abstracts
Book Reviews
Surveys and Essays
Letters to the Editor
Collection of Quotations
My grandfather, Louis Finkelstein
Bibliography of Philip J. Davis
NYU 2031 Plan
