8 A Note on Inductive Generalization Gordon D. Plotkin

In the course of the discussion on Reynolds' (1970) paper in this volume, it became apparent that some of our work was related to his, and we therefore present it here. R.J.Popplestone originated the idea that generalizations and least generalizations of literals existed and would be useful when looking for methods of induction. We refer the reader to his paper in this volume for an account of some of his methods (Popplestone 1970). Generalizations of clauses can also be of interest. Consider the following induction: The result of heating this bit of iron to 419 C was that it melted. The result of heating that bit of iron-to 419 C was that it melted. The result of heating any bit of iron to 419 C is that it melts.