Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was the first fuzzy book I read. Just picked it up randomly, wondering what fuzzy is all about. It's easy to understand, non-technical, and very enlightening. If you are curious about fuzzy logic, or want to explore what could result in a major step forward in machine "intellegence" check out this book. I only gave it an 8 (not 10) because Kosko's "Fuzzy Thinking" is the best I've read. This book is not on the same level, but still very good.

McNeill does a great job in picturing the initial introduction of Fuzzy Sets, rejection by US companies, and the developments of Japanese companies. This book contains the best historical recolection on Fuzzy Logic.

'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 Applications
2. 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...

This book describes the players and the concepts behind fuzzy logic but does not give you the math and algorithms to implement your own fuzzy logic applications. More of a general interest book than a book for a software developer who wants to know the nuts and bolts behind fuzzy logic.

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.

"Imagine a technology so revolutionary that it gives computers the ability to make decisions more like human beings"

This is a book about the history of this technology, but be aware this is not an academic, scientific or engineering book.

An excellent reading if you like to know a little bit about the behind the scenes, the lives, and stories that surround the development of this fascinating technology. Fuzzy logic is a technology so great, that in my opinion, it single handed advanced the science of artificial intelligence, in a way that it wouldn't have been possible without the concepts that support Fuzzy Logic.

As Earl Cox Said: "If you are curious about fuzzy logic, buy this book. If you are working with fuzzy logic, buy this book. If you have never heard about fuzzy logic, buy this book....The Rosetta Stone of fuzzy logic".

Again,...be aware....this is not an academic, scientific or engineering book about mathematics or logics. Its just a Hot science book about the history of Fuzzy Logic.

This book tries to cover the subject area of fuzzy systems, starting at the origins and working forward. I did enjoy the beginning and the writing style made me keep reading even when the subject matter was thin but towards the end of the book I was floundering. I came away with a desire to learn more about fuzzy systems and a good idea as to what are their concepts and limitations. I think this book could have used another 10 years of subject matter to fill the pages though.

THE BOOK IS VERY CLEAR IN EXPLAYING PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS, YOU CAN UNDERSTAND VERY QUICKLY THE ESCENTIALS OF WHAT FUZZY LOGIC MEANS, ALSO THE BOOK EVOLVES FROM PHILOSOPHIC AND THEORICAL EXPLANATIONS TO TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS BASED ON FUZZY LOGIC. THE BOOK ALSO NARRATES THE PAINFULL WAY THAT FUZZY FORERUNNERS SUFFER IN ORDER TO BECOME FUZZY LOGIC IN A VERY STRONG TOOL FOR ENGINEERING AND OTHER FIELDS. THE LAST PART OF THE BOOK EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT OF NEUROFUZZY CONTROLLERS THAT IS A NEW HOPE FOR ENGINEERS WHO WANT TO CREATE NEW MORE POWERFULL MACHINES AT VERY LOW COST AND TO MUCH EASIER. THIS BOOK IS THE BEST "FIRST STEP" IN FUZZY LOGIC UNDERSTANDING

This is not a technical book on fuzzy logic that tells you how to be a fuzzy logic expert, but you feel as though you were one by the time you put down this book. It follows the historical development (birth, misfortunes, unlikely surge, etc.) of this new paradigm. Basic concepts are also given in plain English.

The book claims to be a introduction to fuzzy logic. Though I now know something about the development of fuzzy logic, it has not developed my understanding of fuzzy logic. This introduction is just too simplistic. It lets you think you understand, but you really do not. The book do not contain any logic at all, no proofs, no methods and no exercises. It should not be taken as a book on logic, but a book ofn the history of logic.