Knowledge Representation: Logical, Philosophical, and Computational Foundations (Paperback)

by John F. Sowa (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Sowa integrates logic, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science into this study of knowledge and its various models and implementations. His definitive new book shows how techniques of artificial intelligence, database design, and object-oriented programming help make knowledge explicit in a form that computer systems can use.

About the Author
John Sowa is a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. He earned a bachelor¿s degree in Mathematics from MIT, a master¿s degree in Applied Mathematics from Harvard, and a doctorate in Computer Science from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He has published and edited several books and dozens of articles on artificial intelligence and related topics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology; 1 edition (August 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0534949657
• ISBN-13: 978-0534949655
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #927,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #9 in

  Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence > Knowledge-Based Computing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Contribution, August 14, 2005

By	Situated Agent (Chicago) - See all my reviews

In this book, John Sowa conveys diverse and effective insights within the field of knowledge representation (KR). The frameworks he employs are deeply grounded philosphically. (Sowa's previous work on conceptual structures reactivated and extended the innovative work of Charles Sanders Peirce, which integrates logic and graph theory.) The work reviewed here surveys a wide range of KR issues from basic ontology to agency and processes. Chapter 6, Knowledge Soup, is widely recognized for framing and addressing some of the more demanding, and largely unresolved, challenges in the field.

Throughout the book, issues are explored in a coherent, readable way. Of course, KR implies the use of relevant formalisms, and readers with some background in AI research will be better prepared to absorb the book's insights. However, for students and scholars looking for an integrated overview, Sowa makes a unique contribution.

42 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but suffers from unnecessary complexity., September 6, 2000

By	Mike Archbold (Seattle) - See all my reviews

I thought the first three chapters did an excellent job of covering advances in knowledge representation. However chapter four is marred by an attempt to present what appears to be virtually every syntax used relating to processes. Somewhere in this gulf of complexity I think he has some basic concepts, but they are hard to reach. It's equivalent to reading a book on algorithms in which the author presents the algorithms in C, Cobol, Fortran, Basic, SAS, etc. Why not just present the concepts within the context of a MINIMUM of syntax? Still the book is worth reading and has good appendixes.