In the early 1980’s, W. Clifton Bean began to reflect on the controversy in philosophy over the meaning of causation. His decision that causation was best analyzed in terms of discrete time and space led to the discovery of algorithms for automating causal reasoning. In order to share these ideas, and some suggested applications in quantum mechanics, with computer science researchers, philosophers of science, and lay people interested in science or metaphysics, he wrote Naive Causal Modeling, published in 1996. In 2008 he published the e-books Causation, Backward and Forward and Dynamic Backward Causation.

A native Texan, Bean presently makes his home in Houston, and is a lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. He retired in 1995 from NASA Johnson Space Center, where he worked as a computer engineer and mathematician. He enjoys the companionship of his two cats Jake and Treble, and participates in tennis, duplicate bridge, square dancing, and bicycling.

Bean earned his bachelor’s degree in physics and his master’s degree and doctorate in mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin. He has been a member of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence since 1986, the Mathematical Association of America and the Tensor Society since 1963, and the Philosophy of Science Association and the American Physical Society since 1997.