Quantitative revision of scientific models

Abstract

Research on the computational discovery of numeric equations has focused on constructing laws from scratch, whereas work on theory revision has emphasized qualitative knowledge. In this chapter, we describe an approach to improving scientific models that are cast as sets of equations. We review one such model for aspects of the Earth ecosystem, then recount its application to revising parameter values, in-trinsic properties, and functional forms, in each case achieving reduction in error on Earth science data while retaining the communicability of the original model. After this, we consider earlier work on computational scientific discovery and theory revision, then close with suggestions for future research on this topic. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.