Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic [Paperback]

Bart Kosko (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0006547133 | ISBN-13: 978-0006547136 | Publication Date: October 10, 1994

Fuzzy logic is the next wave in technology. Japanese electronics giants have, in the last ten years, already staked their commercial future on the benefits of fuzzy production; only recently have European and US companies begun to catch up. Fuzzy logic sanctifies vagueness. It prescribes a new way of thinking about machines, about science, ambiguity, confusion and contradiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kosko , an engineering professor at the University of Southern California, makes a provocative new scientific paradigm intelligible to the general reader. Fuzzy logic posits a world in which absolutes, such as those implied in the words "true" and "false , " are less important and interesting than the matters of degree between them. "Fuzziness is grayness," and "the truth lies in the middle," according to Kosko, one of the pioneers of fuzzy logic theory, which he persuasively presents as a world view rooted more in Buddhist and Taoist assumptions than in the dichotomous Aristotelian tradition. He proposes FATs (Fuzzy Approximation Theorems) for the existence (and non-existence, as fuzziness demands) of God and as models of the abortion debate. In consumer terms, fuzzy logic is behind such "smart" machines as air conditioners and microwave ovens that gauge their operation to the conditions and demands of a given moment's task. Writing with style and risk, Kosko challenges assumptions, not about the existence of scientific authority, but about its nature.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Aristotle is out and Buddha is in; the law of the excluded middle (either A or not-A) is repealed, and A and not-A together replaces it. No more black and white, right and wrong, true or false. In their place come shades of gray, more or less, maybe so, maybe not. Why? Because the new world of fuzzy logic more closely mirrors reality, has a rigor all its own, and is paying off in the marketplace. Kosko (Electrical Engineering/USC) has been called the ``St. Paul'' of fuzziness, and for good reason: Not only has he contributed major theories and proofs in the development of fuzzy logic, but he's also been a major proselytizer and gadfly, organizing conferences and frequently going on the road (which usually leads to Japan). He's also young...which may account for the passion and posturing that color the text. Indeed, until Kosko gets down to chapter and verse on what FL is and how it works, reader will be put off by the constant put-down of Western logic and philosophy and opposing schools of computer science. But when Kosko is good, he's very, very good. One comes away from his text with a real understanding of the concepts of fuzzy sets, rules, and systems, and of how they're applied to make ``smart'' machines, devices, trains, and planes. He's also good in extending these ideas to neural nets in hypothesizing how brains change, learn, get smart. But toward the end, he plunges big time into metaphysical questions about life, death, cosmology, God (seen as the math- maker). Curious about the future, Kosko says that he'll opt for freezing at death. Still, for all the self-indulgence, probably the best primer around for learning what FL is all about, certainly cuts above Daniel McNeill and Paul Freiberger's Fuzzy Logic (p. 45). -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Flamingo (October 10, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0006547133
• ISBN-13: 978-0006547136
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #266,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Buddha lite, June 4, 2004

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic (Paperback)

Buddhist math? C'mon.

First, let me say that fuzzy logic and fuzzy arithmetic are great tools. They're valued parts of the 'soft logic' kit that includes probability, interval arithmetic, Bayesian and Markov networks, and lots of other good stuff. Fuzziness involves many of the formal techniques used in probability and elsewhere, and gives a useful, alternative view of the systems it addresses.

The basic fuzzy idea is that most descriptions involve shades of gray, that few systems really match the black/white, on/off, either/or duality of standard formal logic. That's fine, I can get along with that quite well.

My problem, though, is that Kosko presents the fuzzy world-view vs. the traditional or "scientific" in exactly the black and white terms that he rejects. He also argues that fuzziness describes the world more effectively than "scientific" terms, that the rules of arithmetic, probability, and calculus are just games. They are played for their internal consistency, not because differentiation or factorials occur in nature.

That's true, and as a heavy math user I know enough to distinguish my models from reality. Two facts remain, though. First, the models very often do describe reality in ways that can be checked easily enough: the bridge doesn't fall down and the TV receives its signal. Both happen because the bad old exact arithmetic has some kind of correspondence (no, I don't know what) to the real world, giving real ability to predict real results. Second, fuzzy logic and fuzzy arithmetic are themselves mathematical formalisms, games like all the others. Once you get past the gee-whiz stage, there is mathematical content as rigorous as in any other field of study. It's not either/or, it's very often a different way to interpret the same self-consistent games people have played for years. It adds interesting rules to the game.

The great thing is that you really can use the new interpretations and tools along with the old ones. Fuzziness doesn't demolish the old structures, it bolsters them and adds capacity.

And you can get all these benefits without shrink-wrapped, bite-sized pieces of Eastern philosophy.

//wiredweird

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The title is apropos, October 3, 2001

By 

James Daniel (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic (Paperback)

I was looking forward to a good popularization of Fuzzy Logic theory, but I am quite disappointed.

This is not a science book, nor is it a popularization of science. What science it does contain is unclear, is not presented in laymen's terms, and in some cases is factually wrong. The author asserts, pg. 107, that E = mc^2 is an approximation of a nonlinear equation, and attempts to prove it by pointing out where Einstein makes an approximation in his 1905 paper. It turns out that he was taking the Newtonian limit of an equation, and the limit implies the famous E=mc^2, but the E=mc^2 is not itself an approximation. This isn't a particularly serious error, and in fact he would have been technically correct until he said that the famous equation itself was an approximation. It is a sign of Kosko's attitude when he asserts that "[e]ven many physicists forget" that Einstein did this.

I do not doubt that fuzzy logic is useful, but this is not a useful primer from which to learn first principles. Rather it is a diatribe against "Aristotalean logic". Einstein's work, to use him as an example again, was impressive because it was it turned out to be correct to a high degree of precision, not because Newton's work was wrong. Einstein's attitude towards his work was "Hey look at what I found!" not "Can you believe this Newton guy? He got it all wrong!"

The author tries to unite philosophy and science and fuzzy logic and politics into one book, and fails utterly. His presentation of each of these topics detracts from the others. Douglas R. Hofstadter's classic "Godel, Escher, Bach : An Eternal Golden Braid" does this much better, in a far classier manner, and addresses quite clearly the "mapping problem" (as Kosko calls it) between logical systems and using them to describe the real world.

Fuzzy math is a clever mathematical device, and turns out to be very useful for engineering automatic computer controls for systems with several degrees of freedom, but you don't even learn this until the second half of the book, right before he dreams of applications of fuzzy logic to politics. Those who subscribe to the view that the "black-and-white" judgmentalism of science is a bad thing may enjoy the philosophical combativeness of this book, but even they will not learn anything new.

No, I do not recommend this book even in the slightest degree, except as an example of how not to write a popular science book.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Perspective on Logic and Science, June 14, 2000

By 

John Rolston - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic (Paperback)

Kosko struggles to articulate the upcoming paradigm shift from Aristotelian logic to multivalent Fuzzy Logic in the world of commercial technology. He does a good job of explaining the concepts behind the "new" field of fuzzy thinking, but has a hard time expressing the mathematics of it. To give him credit, though, he had to write a book understandable by the lay, and therefore couldn't get too in depth with his equations. But if you have any background in calculus, you'll have no trouble learning from the footnotes.

Aside from the introduction to fuzzy logic, Kosko dips into his personal life to talk about his contributions to the field. I found his digressions extremely interesting and his views enlightening. It's important to take a lot of what he says with a grain of salt, however (he likes to wax philosophical perhaps more than is appropriate), but he is an amiable character nonetheless.

Overall, this is a good read. It's informative not only scientifically, but philosophically as well. Kosko's style is engaging, although too heroic in some passages, and thorough. Because of its controversial nature, some readers may find it offensive. But if you don't mind entertaining alternative opinions and don't mind suspending tendencies for dismissing foreign ideas (which a lot of the people who gave this book bad reviews couldn't apparently handle), you'll enjoy this book.