Multiagent Systems: A Modern Approach to Distributed Artificial Intelligence (Paperback)

by Gerhard Weiss (Editor) "Since its inception in the mid to late 1970s distributed artificial intelligence (DAI) evolved and diversified rapidly..." (more)
Key Phrases: coalition structure graph, heuristic depressions, local signal plans, International Conference, Lecture Notes, Morgan Kaufmann (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This is the first comprehensive introduction to multiagent systems and contemporary distributed artificial intelligence that is suitable as a textbook. The book provides detailed coverage of basic topics as well as several closely related ones. Unlike traditional textbooks, the book brings together many leading experts, guaranteeing a broad and diverse base of knowledge and expertise. It emphasizes aspects of both theory and application, and provides many illustrations and examples. Also included are thought-provoking exercises of varying degrees of difficulty and a twenty-page glossary of terms found in the study of agents, multiagent systems, and distributed artificial intelligence. The book can be used for teaching as well as self-study, and is designed to meet the needs of both researchers and practitioners. In view of the interdisciplinary nature of the field, it will be a useful reference not only for computer scientists and engineers, but for social scientists and management and organization scientists as well.

About the Author
Gerhard Weiss is Research Scientist in the Computer Science Department at the Technical University of Munich.

Product Details

• Paperback: 648 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; New edition edition (July 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262731312
• ISBN-13: 978-0262731317
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #429,076 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Textbook, August 27, 2001

By	Bradford W. Miller "AI Hacker" (Narragansett, RI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Multiagent Systems: A Modern Approach to Distributed Artificial Intelligence (Hardcover)

While perhaps this should not be your first book in AI, it should definitely be your first book on agents. It took me years to accumulate the knowledge present in this book, and it's a great survey of the field for the beginning investigator. However, while this is a great way to get started in agents, understand how agents can be used in intelligent applications (from distributed AI type problem solving, to resource optimization problems), and "get the agent paradigm," coverage of agent software engineering techniques is light. This is not a fault of this book - you will simply need other resources to understand the difficulties and current research in engineering multi agent systems (or indeed any concurrent distributed system). So if you are trying to figure out what to do with agents, or how agent systems work, this is the book for you. If you already know that and want help with formal specification of an agent, verifying your agents meet the specifications, etc. this is not the book for you. Understand that to build systems you will need both!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is a useful book that covers all aspects on the subject., March 27, 2000

By	Amit Konar (Calcutta, India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Multiagent Systems: A Modern Approach to Distributed Artificial Intelligence (Hardcover)

Thogh edited the book looks like a single authored text. The definitions are clearly presented with illustrations. The presentation is highly comprehensive. The book is thus highly readable with minimum effort. I liked the chapters on distributed problem solving and planning (Chapter 3),Learning in multiagent systems (chapter 6), Formal methods in DAI: Logic based representation and reasoning (chapter 8)and Groupware and computer supported cooperative work (chapter 10) very much.Readers of diverse interest in distributed artificial intelligence will find the other chapters equally interesting and useful.The book should be on the desk of anyone interested to learn the concepts of multiagent systems and technology.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Theoretical and Practical Book, October 31, 2001

By	"graham_tp" (Markham, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

Not a beginner's book: The technologies presented are relevant to (gasp) some real life problems. The treatment of Distributed Constraint Satisfaction problems was well written and usable. The initial treatment of all subjects was broad, delving into details after laying a sound foundation. Assumes a bit of mathematical sophistication on the part of the reader, but on the whole, well written, well organized and well worth it.