Customer Reviews

Introduction to Expert Systems (International Computer Science Series)

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I read all the editions of Peter Jackson's Expert System book. All the editions were equally good with respect to the developments of the subject at that time.The current edition covers a wide disciplines of subject with a very simple but elegant style of presentation. I liked the book for its coverage and simplicity. I recommend the book for my graduate students specializing in knowledge-based computing. I wish you all to see the book once and recommend it to your colleagues.

This book is very useful for those who want to learn how to build an expert system, especially using CLIPS because is included a little guide for it. So it is not only theory but there are examples for different cases. Even if is a 1998 book it is still a good product, especially for education (it is recommended in many courses).

Peter Jackson takes you by the hand through a vast and difficult subject. He explains even advanced topics in a surprisingly accessible form. But if you try to make some steps of your own and are not already well versed in that specific topic, be prepared to get lost immediately. If you are well versed, expect to be surprised by his elegant approaches.

This is an introduction through the breadth of Expert Systems. It is not a guide to get practical results fast. It doesn't please the mathematical minded readers. In fact it only contains very little explicit mathematics at all. But it delivers an enormous amount of material. The pages are filled to the rim with small but well readable print. The writing is moderately dense. "Introduction to Expert Systems" will keep you entertained for quite some time if you choose to read it all. For people in a hurry there are many shortcut tracks outlined and the chapters are quite selfcontained

The 1986 edition of the book starts out saying that it is not "a course in how to construct knowledge-based systems (page v preface)" and that is so true. As the book attempts to give an informative overview of various expert system techniques it fails to clearly communicate them due to its lack of clear "how to" instructions which are absolutely necessary to explain the complex principles covered. I have a Master's degree in Communications myself and find this book to be one of the types assigned to students due to its industry status rather than because it gets the job of education done.