Fuzzy Logic: The Revolutionary Computer Technology that Is Changing Our World

Good review of introduction and uses of Fuzzy Logic. Well written and highly recommended. This one is going in to the collection.

This book is an above average history of the conceptualization ,development,and application of fuzzy logic.Fuzzy logic essentially replaces the point estimates of the mathematical laws of probability(addition and multiplication rules for disjunction and conjunction,respectively)with interval estimates using linear programming techniques.The two main protaganists are L. Zadeh and B. Kosko.They certainly should be recognized for independently developing their own particular versions and approaches to interval estimates but they are NOT the originators.The authors of the book overlok that it was George Boole who was the first to come up with interval estimates for probabilities,including non rational numbers, in chapters 16-21 of his 1854 The Laws of Thought.J M Keynes then used modified versions of a number of these problems of Boole's to present a method of approximation using an interval estimate approach in his A Treatise on Probability in chapters 15 and 17.Keynes rejected the purely mathematical laws of probability as a special case and emphasized the notion of " non numerical " probabilities or indeterminate or non comparable probabilities,by which he meant interval estimates.Theodore Hailperin,in 1965 and in full length books in 1976,1986,and 1996,demonstrated that all of the Boole problems could be solved as linear programming problems.Daniel Ellsberg's "ambiguous" probabilities(intervals)are also overlooked in this book. The authors mix subjectivist Bayesians(Ramsey,De Finetti,and Savage)with Objectivist Bayesians(Jeffreys,Jaynes)without apparently realizing that there are major differences between them.The claim that Boole reduced thinking to "classical logic " and "well bounded symbols " while ignoring " vagueness " on p.71 is false as is the claim that Boole was a supporter of the purely mathematical application of the laws of probability who rejected subjectivism at the top of p.180.He was not. This is a entertaining book.It is worth buying even though the authors have overlooked the actual originators of the interval estimate approach to decision making based on indeterminate probabilities-George Boole,J M Keynes,Theodore Hailperin,and Daniel Ellsberg.

As far a getting technical - I don't know. But having taught intro logic to generally "logic-less" undergraduates every semester since 2003, I do not hesistate to recommend this book as the best concise history of logic afforable and available right now. Surely a lot more realistic than slogging through Kneale and Kneale, or the relevant texts in Blackwell's Companion Series - this simple, accessible, blessedly brief history of ideas which includes non-technical, yet thorough explanations of benchmark concepts like Russell's Paradox, and neatly, diachronically contextualizes such events, is readable in a fortnight, and is a true gift to beginning students of logic. A commendable contribution to the field.

'Fuzzy Logic: A Revolutionary Computer Technology that is changing our world', a book by Daniel McNeill and Paul Freiberger, is all about the history and philosophy of fuzzy logic. This book was written nearly a decade from now and the main body consists of 275 pages of text (pp. 9 to 283). It took me 2 weeks to finish reading this book since I underlined important terms, concepts, and names of the people who contributed to the development of fuzzy logic. Without underlining, I think anyone can read this book in less than a week. The book has the following advantages and disadvantages:Advantages:1. It has quotations from famous people at the beginning of each chapter.2. It is comprehensive.3. It has been a major source of reference of most websites on fuzzy logic.4. It is lightweight and measures approximately 7' x 5' inches.Disadvantages:1. It contains only a few diagrams.2. It is monochromatic (lacks color).3. It is generally non-technical.I understand its predominantly non-technical approach (3rd disadvantage) because I assumed that there has been a lack of English technical references for fuzzy logic in the early 90's. Therefore, these are my comments/suggestions:Comments/Suggestions:1. I suggest that the authors revise the book to include 2 parts: a. Fuzzy Logic: History and Philosophy b. Fuzzy Logic: Concepts and Applications2. The revised version should include more mathematical diagrams/models, sample problems with solutions, and exercises with odd-numbered solutions.3. The revised version should include technical references such as 'Heaven in a Chip: Fuzzy Visions of Society and Science in the Digital Age' by Bart Kosko, 'Learning and Soft Computing: Support Vector Machines, Neural Networks, and Fuzzy Logic Models' by Vojislav Kecman, 'Genetic Fuzzy Systems: Evolutionary Tuning and Learning of Fuzzy Knowledge Bases' by Oscar Cordon, 'Fuzzy Engineering' by Bart Kosko, and Fuzzy Logic and Neuro Fuzzy Applications Explained' by Constantin Von Altrock.4. The revised version should include sample applications with simulation using free downloadable fuzzy logic software/program from the internet such as FuzzyLib 2.0 and Simple Inference Engine 1.0 which are currently both available...

Im sure its a good book but it reads more like a biography than a book on the subject matter. Nice price though so not bad

For a PhD student such as me, new to the concepts of fuzzy logic, this was recommended by my Supervisor and is excellent. I marked so many pages as being of interest and then wrote a precis. Very useful and illuminating. LOts of good real-world examples.

This was the first book I've read on fuzzy logic. Its style and structure attempts to mirror that of James Gleicks "Chaos". However, the authors fail miserably to sex up either the subject or the protagonists, creating instead a work that I could only digest in very small chunks before boredom set in. The subject itself seems fascinating, and will be something that I'll explore in some more detail. I only wish they had chosen to stick to the subject itself and ignore the 'personalities' of those who developed it. The character traits of tweed wearing mathematicians might provide good padding for popular science books such as this, but they do little to engage the reader.