Since its inception by Professor Lotfi Zadeh about 18 years ago, the theory of fuzzy sets has evolved in many directions, and is finding applications in a wide variety of fields in which the phenomena under study are too complex or too ill-defined to be analyzed by conventional techniques. Thus, by providing a basis for a systematic approach to approximate reasoning and inexact inference, the theory of fuzzy sets may well have a substantial impact on scientific methodology in the years ahead, particularly in the realms of psychology, economics, engineering, law, medicine, decision-analysis, information retrieval, and artificial intelli gence. This volume consists of 24 selected papers invited by the editor, Professor Paul P. Wang. These papers cover the theory and applications of fuzzy sets, almost equal in number. We are very fortunate to have Professor A. Kaufmann to contribute an overview paper of the advances in fuzzy sets. One special feature of this volume is the strong participation of Chinese researchers in this area. The fact is that Chinese mathematicians, scientists and engineers have made important contributions to the theory and applications of fuzzy sets through the past decade. However, not until the visit of Professor A. Kaufmann to China in 1974 and again in 1980, did the Western World become fully aware of the important work of Chinese researchers. Now, Professor Paul Wang has initiated the effort to document these important contributions in this volume to expose them to the western researchers.

Fundamentals of Fuzzy Sets covers the basic elements of fuzzy set theory. Its four-part organization provides easy referencing of recent as well as older results in the field. The first part discusses the historical emergence of fuzzy sets, and delves into fuzzy set connectives, and the representation and measurement of membership functions. The second part covers fuzzy relations, including orderings, similarity, and relational equations. The third part, devoted to uncertainty modelling, introduces possibility theory, contrasting and relating it with probabilities, and reviews information measures of specificity and fuzziness. The last part concerns fuzzy sets on the real line - computation with fuzzy intervals, metric topology of fuzzy numbers, and the calculus of fuzzy-valued functions. Each chapter is written by one or more recognized specialists and offers a tutorial introduction to the topics, together with an extensive bibliography.

Readings in Fuzzy Sets for Intelligent Systems is a collection of readings that explore the main facets of fuzzy sets and possibility theory and their use in intelligent systems. Basic notions in fuzzy set theory are discussed, along with fuzzy control and approximate reasoning. Uncertainty and informativeness, information processing, and membership, cognition, neural networks, and learning are also considered. Comprised of eight chapters, this book begins with a historical background on fuzzy sets and possibility theory, citing some forerunners who discussed ideas or formal definitions very close to the basic notions introduced by Lotfi Zadeh (1978). The reader is then introduced to fundamental concepts in fuzzy set theory, including symmetric summation and the setting of fuzzy logic; uncertainty and informativeness; and fuzzy control. Subsequent chapters deal with approximate reasoning; information processing; decision and management sciences; and membership, cognition, neural networks, and learning. Numerical methods for fuzzy clustering are described, and adaptive inference in fuzzy knowledge networks is analyzed. This monograph will be of interest to both students and practitioners in the fields of computer science, information science, applied mathematics, and artificial intelligence.

The term "fuzzy logic," as it is understood in this book, stands for all aspects of representing and manipulating knowledge based on the rejection of the most fundamental principle of classical logic---the principle of bivalence. According to this principle, each declarative sentence is required to be either true or false. In fuzzy logic, these classical truth values are not abandoned. However, additional, intermediate truth values between true and false are allowed, which are interpreted as degrees of truth. This opens a new way of thinking---thinking in terms of degrees rather than absolutes. For example, it leads to the definition of a new kind of sets, referred to as fuzzy sets, in which membership is a matter of degree. The book examines the genesis and development of fuzzy logic. It surveys the prehistory of fuzzy logic and inspects circumstances that eventually lead to the emergence of fuzzy logic. The book explores in detail the development of propositional, predicate, and other calculi that admit degrees of truth, which are known as fuzzy logic in the narrow sense. Fuzzy logic in the broad sense, whose primary aim is to utilize degrees of truth for emulating common-sense human reasoning in natural language, is scrutinized as well. The book also examines principles for developing mathematics based on fuzzy logic and provides overviews of areas in which this has been done most effectively. It also presents a detailed survey of established and prospective applications of fuzzy logic in various areas of human affairs, and provides an assessment of the significance of fuzzy logic as a new paradigm.

Fuzzy logic techniques have had extraordinary growth in various engineering systems. The developments in engineering sciences have caused apprehension in modern years due to high-tech industrial processes with ever-increasing levels of complexity. Advanced Fuzzy Logic Approaches in Engineering Science provides innovative insights into a comprehensive range of soft fuzzy logic techniques applied in various fields of engineering problems like fuzzy sets theory, adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system, and hybrid fuzzy logic genetic algorithms belief networks in industrial and engineering settings. The content within this publication represents the work of particle swarms, fuzzy computing, and rough sets. It is a vital reference source for engineers, research scientists, academicians, and graduate-level students seeking coverage on topics centered on the applications of fuzzy logic in high-tech industrial processes.

Fuzzy Set Theory and Advanced Mathematical Applications contains contributions by many of the leading experts in the field, including coverage of the mathematical foundations of the theory, decision making and systems science, and recent developments in fuzzy neural control. The book supplies a readable, practical toolkit with a clear introduction to fuzzy set theory and its evolution in mathematics and new results on foundations of fuzzy set theory, decision making and systems science, and fuzzy control and neural systems. Each chapter is self-contained, providing up-to-date coverage of its subject. Audience: An important reference work for university students, and researchers and engineers working in both industrial and academic settings.

The Springer Handbook for Computational Intelligence is the first book covering the basics, the state-of-the-art and important applications of the dynamic and rapidly expanding discipline of computational intelligence. This comprehensive handbook makes readers familiar with a broad spectrum of approaches to solve various problems in science and technology. Possible approaches include, for example, those being inspired by biology, living organisms and animate systems. Content is organized in seven parts: foundations; fuzzy logic; rough sets; evolutionary computation; neural networks; swarm intelligence and hybrid computational intelligence systems. Each Part is supervised by its own Part Editor(s) so that high-quality content as well as completeness are assured.

This book consists of selected papers written by the founder of fuzzy set theory, Lotfi A Zadeh. Since Zadeh is not only the founder of this field, but has also been the principal contributor to its development over the last 30 years, the papers contain virtually all the major ideas in fuzzy set theory, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy systems in their historical context. Many of the ideas presented in the papers are still open to further development. The book is thus an important resource for anyone interested in the areas of fuzzy set theory, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy systems, as well as their applications. Moreover, the book is also intended to play a useful role in higher education, as a rich source of supplementary reading in relevant courses and seminars.The book contains a bibliography of all papers published by Zadeh in the period 1949-1995. It also contains an introduction that traces the development of Zadeh's ideas pertaining to fuzzy sets, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy systems via his papers. The ideas range from his 1965 seminal idea of the concept of a fuzzy set to ideas reflecting his current interest in computing with words — a computing in which linguistic expressions are used in place of numbers.Places in the papers, where each idea is presented can easily be found by the reader via the Subject Index.