Abstract

Abstract. This paper surveys the field of automated reasoning, giving some historical background and outlining a few of the main current research themes. We particularly emphasize the points of contact and the contrasts with computer algebra. We finish with a discussion of the main applications so far. 1 Historical introduction The idea of reducing reasoning to mechanical calculation is an old dream [75]. Hobbes [55] made explicit the analogy in the slogan ‘Reason [...] is nothing but Reckoning’. This parallel was developed by Leibniz, who envisaged a ‘characteristica universalis’ (universal language) and a ‘calculus ratiocinator ’ (calculus of reasoning). His idea was that disputes of all kinds, not merely mathematical ones, could be settled if the parties translated their dispute into the characteristica and then simply calculated. Leibniz even made some steps towards realizing this lofty goal, but his work was largely forgotten. The characteristica universalis The dream of a truly universal language in Leibniz’s sense remains unrealized and probably unrealizable. But over the last few centuries a language that is at least adequate for

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