David A. Plaisted
David A. Plaisted | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago; Stanford University |
| Known for | Automated theorem proving; young-earth creationist writings on cosmology |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science, automated theorem proving |
| Institutions | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
David A. Plaisted is an American computer scientist and a professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, whose research is in term-rewriting systems, automated theorem proving, and logic programming. Outside his mainstream computing work he is a young-earth creationist who has published a series of essays challenging aspects of standard cosmology. He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.
Academic background
Plaisted received his B.S. from the University of Chicago in 1970 and his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1976. He served on the computer science faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before joining the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he holds a full professorship. His technical research on theorem proving is part of the scientific mainstream.
Cosmology essays
On his university web pages Plaisted hosts essays presenting creation-oriented critiques of accepted physics and cosmology. In one such essay, "An Accelerating Universe, or Light Slowing Down?", he questions the standard interpretation of distant Type Ia supernovae being fainter than expected from their red shift. Rather than concluding the expansion of the universe is accelerating, he raises the possibility that the speed of light has decreased over time. These arguments fall outside the scientific mainstream and are not accepted by cosmologists.