Examples of success in computer discovery systems include Bacon, named
after the philosopher Sir Francis Bacon, that has discovered (or maybe we should
say “rediscovered”) Ohm’s law of electricity, Kepler’s third law of planetary
motion, and the conservation of momentum. Perhaps more persuasive is the system
AUTOCLASS that, using infrared spectral data, has discovered new classes of
stars that were previously unknown in astronomy—a true scientific discovery by
a computer.