Fuzzy logic for beginners (Q2718911)

Japanese scientists and engineers belonged to the first ones to pursue research in fuzzy logic and to develop industrial applications of fuzzy logic and fuzzy control. So, in Japan, fuzzy logic has been popular for a long time not only in scientific and engineering circles, but also in the general public. This may explain why there was a considerable demand for a booklet like this one, which is addressed to the general reader, and, in fact, the Japanese original became a best seller. So it seemed natural to publish also an English edition. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe book consists of six chapters of quite different lengths. Chapter 1 (``Considering fuzziness'', pp. 1-15) gives a very general explanation of what can be considered as fuzziness in our everyday experience. Basing on these considerations the idea of fuzzy reasoning is outlined in contrast to reasoning in traditional classical and nonclassical logic. In Chapter 2 (``Before the invention of fuzzy theory'', pp. 17-24), the author gives an account of Zadeh's invention of fuzzy sets in 1965, and reports how he himself got involved in fuzzy theory through his research in fail-safe logic. He met Zadeh for the first time in 1977 and subsequently was one of those who supported the development of fuzzy logic in a time when it was less accepted than nowadays. So the author became one of the pioneers of fuzzy logic in Japan. Chapter 3 (``Fuzzy theory'', pp. 25-44) gives a general, non-mathematical account of the elementary notions of fuzzy theory, like fuzzy set, membership function, fuzzy logic, fuzzy operation, fuzzy relation, subjectivity, consistency, possibility, uncertainty etc. All these notions are extensively explained employing every-day life examples. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEMore serious examples and a more formal exposition can be found in Chapter 4 (``Applications of fuzzy theory'', pp. 45-84). The chapter starts with a formalization of the notion of fuzzy inference and then switches to artificial intelligence, expert systems, and fuzzy control, including an illuminating example of how to steer a car via fuzzy rules. In this part, elementary mathematical formalism is used so that the reader can get a clear impression of the principles and advantages of fuzzy control as compared to conventional control. The chapter concludes with some sections surveying further applications in control, social sciences, databases and decision making. Chapters 3 and 4 constitute the main body of the booklet. Particularly the sections on expert systems and fuzzy control give clear insights into the core of fuzzy theory, employing enough elementary mathematics to make the exposition sufficiently precise. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe remaining chapters comment on possible areas of future developments and applications. In Chapter 5 (``Fuzzy computers'', pp. 85-93), the author sketches some basic ideas in connection with a Japanese project for constructing a fuzzy computer. The core of this project is described as ``the development of hardware for direct processing of analog values of fuzzy sets'' (p. 88). Chapter 6 (``Usefulness of uncertainty'', pp. 95-104) gives, in very general terms, an outlook on possible future applications of fuzziness in politics and social areas, focusing on the concepts of subjectivity and uncertainty. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEAt that point, the book ends abruptly: there are no indexes, no bibliography and no hints for further reading -- none of those little helpers that one would expect in a book like this. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe English of this translation is very poor. Elementary grammatical and orthographic mistakes are present all over the text. Many formulations are hardly understandable, if at all. Special confusion is caused by the spelling of a number of names, e.g. of Aristotle and Leibniz, who are consequently misspelled as ``Alstoteres''/``Alistoteres'' and ``Ripunitz'', respectively. The type-setting is very poor, too. Particularly the mathematical type-setting is full of misleading errors. As a result of these two serious shortcomings, the general reader of this edition will have big problems to actually extract a correct idea of what fuzzy logic is about so that the booklet misses its main goal: to ``enable(...) the reader to understand easily what fuzziness is and how one can apply fuzzy theory to real problems'' (Publisher's description). Maybe the original Japanese edition did not suffer from these shortcomings (what would explain its success); but the publication of this English edition was wasted effort: for the (unnamed) translator, for the publisher, and, most seriously, for the reader.