Modeling and implementing dynamical systems is a central problem in artificial intelligence, robotics, software agents, simulation, decision and control theory, and many other disciplines. In recent years, a new approach to representing such systems, grounded in mathematical logic, has been developed within the AI knowledge-representation community. This book presents a comprehensive treatment …
"A Bradford book."OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.
Looking at ways to encode prior knowledge and to extract, refine, and revise knowledge within a neurocomputing system.Neurocomputing methods are loosely based on a model of the brain as a network of simple interconnected processing elements corresponding to neurons. These methods derive their power from the collective processing of artificial neurons, the chief advantage being that such systems…
Most aspects of our private and social lives--our safety, the integrity of the financial system, the functioning of utilities and other services, and national security--now depend on computing. But how can we know that this computing is trustworthy? In Mechanizing Proof, Donald MacKenzie addresses this key issue by investigating the interrelations of computing, risk, and mathematical proof over…
"Wireless networks are the fastest growing communications technology in history. Are mobile phones expressions of identity, fashionable gadgets, tools for life - or all of the above? Mobile Communication and Society looks at how the possibility of multimodal communication from anywhere to anywhere at any time affects everyday life at home, at work, and at school, and raises broader concerns abo…
What can humans do? What can machines do? How do humans delegate actions to machines? In this book, Harry Collins and Martin Kusch combine insights from sociology and philosophy to provide a novel answer to these increasingly important questions. The authors begin by distinguishing between two basic types of intentional behavior, which they call polimorphic actions and mimeomorphic actions. Pol…
"A Bradford book."Homeostasis, a key concept in biology, refers to the tendency toward stability in the various bodily states that make up the internal environment. Examples include temperature regulation and oxygen consumption. The body's needs, however, do not remain constant. When an organism is under stress, the central nervous system works with the endocrine system to use resources to main…
Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934) made prolific and lasting contributions to understanding "the life of the infinitely small." Santiago Ram?on y Cajal (1852-1934) made prolific and lasting contributions to understanding "the life of the infinitely small." Widely thought of as the founder of neuroscience, Cajal made remarkable explorations into the organization and function of the ner…
Based on the author's thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1977, presented under title: Robustness and stability aspects of stochastic multivariable feedback system design."This book on stability theory and robustness will interest researchers and advanced graduate students in the area of feedback control engineering, circuits, and systems. It will also appeal to mathematicians who ar…
Software has gone from obscurity to indispensability in less than fifty years. Although other industries have followed a similar trajectory, software and its supporting industry are different. In this book the authors explain, from a variety of perspectives, how software and the software industry are different--technologically, organizationally, and socially. The growing importance of software …