Book Description
The theory of tree languages, founded in the late Sixties and still active in the Seventies, was much less active during the Eighties. Now there is a simultaneous revival in several countries, with a number of significant results proved in the past five years. A large proportion of them appear in the present volume.

The editors of this volume suggested that the authors should write comprehensive half-survey papers. This collection is therefore useful for everyone interested in the theory of tree languages as it covers most of the recent questions which are not treated in the very few rather old standard books on the subject. Trees appear naturally in many chapters of computer science and each new property is likely to result in improvement of some computational solution of a real problem in handling logical formulae, data structures, programming languages on systems, algorithms etc. The point of view adopted here is to put emphasis on the properties themselves and their rigorous mathematical exposition rather than on the many possible applications.

This volume is a useful source of concepts and methods which may be applied successfully in many situations: its philosophy is very close to the whole philosophy of the ESPRIT Basic Research Actions and to that of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science. ... Read more

Book Description
Logic's basic elements are unfolded in this book. The relation of and the transition from Logic to Logic Programming are analysed.

With the use and the development of computers in the beginning of the 1950's, it soon became clear that computers could be used, not only for arithmetical computation, but also for symbolic computation. Hence, the first arithmetical computation programs, and the first programs created to answer elementary questions and prove simple theorems, were written simultaneously. The basic steps towards a general method based on Logic, were accomplished in 1965 by Robinson and later by Kowalski and Colmerauer who made use of Logic directly as a Logic Programming language.

Each chapter includes solved as well as unsolved exercises provided to help the reader assimilate the corresponding topics. The solved exercises demonstrate how to work methodically, whereas the unsolved exercises aim to stimulate the reader's personal initiative. The contents of the book are self-contained; only an elementary knowledge of analysis is required. Thus, it can be used by students in every academic year, as simply reading material, or in the context of a course. It can also be used by those who utilize Logic Programming without having any particular theoretical background knowledge of Logic, or by those simply interested in Logic and its applications in Logic Programming. ... Read more

Book Description
Paperback ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Huberman's essay is worth the price of the book.
Huberman shows that delay of information about other processors is sufficient to produce genuine chaos in distributed computer systems. He suggests this is true of cognitive production systems, i.e., organizations,as well. I call this phenomenon a Huberman game. Here's an example. A roomfull of people close their eyes and raise either one or two fingers.Assuming the split is not 50-50, which is most times, the majority must paythe minority a fine proportional to the difference. Repeat the process.Some of the majority, perhaps many, will change their gesture. If too manychange they lose again. Absent communication they are unlikely to convergeon a 50-50 equilibrium. Rather they will oscillate chaotically around it.This is the essence of commodity markets and business cycles generally.They are Huberman games driven by delay of information about what othersare going to do. Classic economics has always admitted that its assumptionof perfect information was false, but we never knew what difference itmade. I think Huberman has solved that puzzle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a good collection of papers about AI and law
This book covers many perspectives about artificial intelligence and law. It's easy to read and follow where you stay at your own major. ... Read more

Book Description
An Approach to Complexity from a Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Perspective to The Virtual Workplace ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Main ideas in computing
Here, I am also commenting on the Supplements to this book, which the publisher periodically issues.

The encyclopedia is excellent for a broad discussion of the hardware and software in computing. It has to regularly come out with Supplements because of the ongoing improvments in the field. All the major contributors to computing are discussed, with a good synopsis for each, explaining his or her bailiwick. The treatment is about 50-50 between hardware and software. The articles tend to discuss the main ideas, and the encyclopedia and its supplements should not be seen as even an attempt at a summary of vendors' offerings.

If you are new to computing and want a general introduction, try consulting articles here. Professionals in computing will already have specialised texts in their subfields, and may not really need this book. ... Read more