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␈↓ ↓H␈↓␈↓βS␈↓∧ Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, STANFORD UNIVERSITY, Stanford, California 94305

␈↓ ↓H␈↓∧Telephone 415 497-4430␈↓ 	ISeptember 16, 1980 




␈↓ ↓H␈↓Professor Paul C. Gilmore, Head
␈↓ ↓H␈↓Department of Computer Science
␈↓ ↓H␈↓University of British Columbia
␈↓ ↓H␈↓Vancouver, B.C., CANADA V6T 1W5

␈↓ ↓H␈↓Dear Paul:

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        As␈α
I␈αtold␈α
you␈αon␈α
the␈αphone,␈α
I␈αwas␈α
acquainted␈α
only␈αwith␈α
one␈αpaper␈α
of␈αRay␈α
Reiter's,␈α"A␈α
Logic
␈↓ ↓H␈↓for␈α↔Default␈α_Reasoning"␈α↔and␈α↔my␈α_opinion␈α↔of␈α↔this␈α_paper␈α↔was␈α↔very␈α_high.␈α↔ It␈α↔is␈α_the␈α↔most
␈↓ ↓H␈↓mathematically␈α∞sustained␈α∞treatment␈α∞of␈α∞non-monotonic␈α∂reasoning␈α∞in␈α∞the␈α∞special␈α∞issue␈α∂of␈α∞␈↓↓Arti≡cial
␈↓ ↓H␈↓↓Intelligence␈↓ devoted to that subject.

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        I␈αdid␈αnot␈αexpect␈αthat␈αI␈αwould␈αbe␈αable␈αto␈αread␈αmany␈αof␈αthe␈αother␈αpapers␈αyou␈αsent␈αme,␈αbut␈αI
␈↓ ↓H␈↓was␈αpleasantly␈αsurprised␈αto␈α≡nd␈αthem␈αboth␈αmathematically␈αsophisticated␈αand␈αgenuinely␈αrelevant␈αto
␈↓ ↓H␈↓the applied topics treated.

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        "On␈α∞reasoning␈α∞by␈α∞default"␈α∞is␈α∞an␈α∞excellent␈α
introduction␈α∞to␈α∞the␈α∞subject,␈α∞and␈α∞I␈α∞learned␈α∞a␈α
lot
␈↓ ↓H␈↓about␈α⊃databases,␈α⊃a␈α⊃subject␈α⊃which␈α⊃I␈α⊃have␈α⊃been␈α⊃resisting,␈α⊃from␈α⊃Reiter's␈α⊃"Equality␈α⊃and␈α⊂Domain
␈↓ ↓H␈↓Closure in First-Order Databases".

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        I␈α∩didn't␈α⊃read␈α∩the␈α∩papers␈α⊃on␈α∩automatic␈α∩proving,␈α⊃because␈α∩that␈α∩≡eld␈α⊃long␈α∩ago␈α∩became␈α⊃to
␈↓ ↓H␈↓technically complex for me.

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        Reiter␈α∂is␈α∂one␈α∂of␈α∂the␈α∂very␈α∂few␈α∂people␈α∂in␈α∂the␈α∂world␈α∂who␈α∂can␈α∂maintain␈α∂both␈α∂mathematical
␈↓ ↓H␈↓precision␈αand␈αrelevance␈αto␈αarti≡cial␈αintelligence␈αand␈αcomputer␈αscience␈αgenerally␈αin␈αhis␈αwork.␈α Most
␈↓ ↓H␈↓of␈αthe␈αmathematically␈αcompetent␈αwork␈αpursues␈αmathematical␈αwill-o-the-wisps␈αthat␈αare␈αirrelevant␈αto
␈↓ ↓H␈↓AI.

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        I can give him an unquali≡ed recommendation for promotion to full professor.


␈↓ ↓H␈↓Sincerely,



␈↓ ↓H␈↓John McCarthy
␈↓ ↓H␈↓Director
␈↓ ↓H␈↓Professor of Computer Science