Reviews (13)

I should need a little bit more
I have read the book at a stretch. In my view, the thesis (human is social) is a very simple, wit, and sound one. Maybe it is a very profound concern to us, whose complete consequences have not yet been taken in a serious consideration. Foundations and arguments in favor, coming from social and computer sciences, are orderly and properly unfolded along the book. The associated web page is being a very valuable resource for me. In short, I have made acquaintance with a good, satisfying mate. There is only a but for me: It has not moved me (but that is my but, not its...)

Good science; not metaphysics : know the difference; win big
You are most likely familiar with the story. In summary form, it is about a group of blind men standing around an elephant each declaring "what an elephant is like" based upon which part of the elephant they are touching -- and elephant is like: a wall (side); a tree trunk (leg); a hose (trunk); a fan (ear); and so on.
Good, but could have been more concise.
Swarm intelligence is burdened with an awful lot of material that is not core to PSO.A great deal of the book consists of the philosophical ramblings of the authors, rather than technical treatment of the topic at hand.An even larger chunk of the book was devoted to what was essentially a survey of AI: neural nets, evolutionary programming, heuristics, etc.Much too much space was devoted to grounding the reader in AI before proceeding.I must admit, however, that, while I found it out of place, the 'AI primer' part of the book is one of the most useful and lucid I have seen;I just think that it should have been a separate book (and this one should have been much thinner).The material that is specific to PSO is a very small fraction of the book, but is thorough and accessible;there really are few alternatives if one is particularly interested in PSO.However, if you are just interested in emergent behavior, and its applications to AI, take a look at Ant Colony Optimization (Dorigo).It covers ACO, rather than PSO, but is more more readable, and provides a much better technical treatment of the topic, if you want to avoid the philosophy and primer. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Artificial Intelligence    2. Artificial Intelligence - General    3. Computer Books: Languages    4. Computers    5. Computers - General Information    6. Distributed artificial intelli    7. Distributed artificial intelligence    8. Engineering - General    9. General    10. Swarm intelligence    11. Systems engineering    12. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design   

Reviews (27)

too expensive I would say
great book if you wanna start sth anywhere in machine learning, but it is toooooo expensive.

Excellent book, concise and readable
This is a great book if you're starting out with machine learning. It's rare to come across a book like this that is very well written and has technical depth. The writing is to the point, maybe even a bit terse, but all that you need to know is in there. It's a bit old so doesn't cover kernel methods or SVM's but is still a great first machine learning book.

great book
This is a great book because it focuses on machine learning techniques. It has been used as textbook in my class. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Algorithms (Computer Programming)    2. Artificial Intelligence - General    3. Computer Bks - General Information    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computer Science    6. Computer algorithms    7. Computers    8. Computers - General Information    9. Machine Learning    10. Non-Classifiable   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Physical    2. Artificial Intelligence - General    3. Computational Biology    4. Computational neuroscience    5. Computers    6. Computers - General Information    7. Engineering - General    8. Engineering Models    9. Medical    10. Models, Neurological    11. Neural Computing    12. Neural Networks    13. Computer modelling & simulation    14. Medical / Neuroscience    15. Neurosciences   

Editorial Review

"Intended as an upper-level undergraduate or introductory graduate text in computer science theory," this book lucidly covers the key concepts and theorems of the theory of computation. The presentation is remarkably clear; for example, the "proof idea," which offers the reader an intuitive feel for how the proof was constructed, accompanies many of the theorems and a proof. Read more

Reviews (45)

Terrible
I do not understand why this book is rated so highly.
Most appropriate for CS students
As a teacher of the subject, I have had the chance to evaluate numerous books on the theory of computation.Of all the available texts, I think this one is the most appropriate for CS students.In the past I taught out of Dexter Kozen's book, which is incredibly elegant, but had some resistance from the students.Thinking it over I decided that Kozen's text, although beautiful, may be better suited to students pursuing a degree in pure math.Sipser's book, on the other hand, is more gentle.I find that Sipser demands far less mathematical maturity from his readers, and thus allows the difficulty to be shifted from excessive formalism to the inherent challenges present in the material.In addition, following Sipser's treatment, I was able to cover finite state machines and pushdown automata in far less time, thus allowing me to concentrate on computability and beyond.The book really shines in its treatment of computability theory, eloquently directing attention to some of the most beautiful aspects.
Excellent accessible textbook on the theory of computation
The theory of computation is the branch of computer science that deals with whether and how efficiently problems can be solved on a computer. The field is divided into two major branches: computability theory and complexity theory, but both branches deal with formal models of computation, and both of these subjects are dealt with in this book. This is an important subject because no matter what leaps forward computers make, something that is proved undecidable and not computable will always be so, thus the theory behind this subject is very important.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Advanced    2. Computational complexity    3. Computers - General Information    4. Discrete Mathematics    5. General    6. Logic    7. Machine Learning    8. Machine theory    9. Mathematics    10. Science/Mathematics    11. Systems Analysis    12. Computers / Information Theory    13. Mathematical theory of computation   

Reviews (35)

The best intro to Lisp I've seen
I've used a bunch of different Lisp books in my efforts to get to the point where I could actually do something useful with the language.This book is the best I've seen for that, period.

Awesomely good....
This is one of the gentlest introductions to Common Lisp that I have run across. I have read most of the introductory books and this beats them hands down. Consider this highly recommended if your trying to get up to speed on the language that makes you think different.

Very practical, very good.
This is a good book. After the first few chapter of getting to know Lisp, he has some real world examples of using lisp (4-5 projects?) Very "Practical". It doesn't hover around subjective issues like the massive (LOOP ... ) macro, thats for flame-boards =D. He likes it, he uses it and shows you the power. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. COMMON LISP (Computer program    2. COMMON LISP (Computer program language)    3. Computer Books: Languages    4. Computer Science    5. Computers    6. Computers - Languages / Programming    7. Programming Languages - LISP   

Reviews (7)

Excellent, Accessible Book
This an excellent book.Basically, the whole point of it is to mathematically define what a computer is and prove that it works.The author does this by defining and manipulating mathematical alphabets and languages without resorting to any kind of advanced math.Starting from nothing, the whole thing leads up to Turing Machines.More specifically, according to the Preface, the goals of the book are:
Excellent
I must say this is one of the best books I have ever read.The auther is humorous and insightful.He manages to take very abstract concepts and explain them in clear concrete terms and metaphors.

Discursive presentation. Helpful for novices.
The book has one important attribute: it's clear, undoubtedly. Having a minimum of prerequisites, I think there's no way to not understand what Prof. Cohen says through its pages. It makes the job of learning this part of theory easier than any other text.Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Science    3. Computers    4. Electronic digital computers    5. General    6. Logic    7. Mathematics    8. Theory Of Computing    9. Computers / General    10. General Theory of Computing   

Reviews (2)

I love this book.
This is a wonderfully written, and excellent book. It assumes only minimal backgroundknowledge but imparts a great deal of insight. I love the way that the author describes this area and the connections with deep and beautifulmathematics.

A very nice 'handbook' of sorts for users of SOMs.
The material is presented clearly and comprehensively from the unique perspective of the SOM originator himself. The inclusion ofexhaustive references is particularly useful for the prospective researcher, but, atthe risk of sounding ungrateful, I'm curious as to why paper titles werenot included in the citations? Overall though, a very good reference. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Artificial Intelligence - General    2. Computers    3. Computers - General Information    4. Engineering - Electrical & Electronic    5. Life Sciences - Biophysics    6. Neural Computing    7. Neural Networks    8. Neural networks (Computer scie    9. Neural networks (Computer science)    10. Reference    11. Self-organizing maps    12. Adaptive and Learning Networks    13. Adaptive und Lernende Netze    14. Biophysics    15. Cluster Analysis    16. Communications engineering / telecommunications    17. Computers / Neural Networks    18. Computers-Artificial Intelligence - General    19. Klassifikator    20. Klusteranalyse    21. Lernen ohne Lehrer    22. Mustererkennung    23. Neuronale Netze    24. Pattern Recognition    25. Science / Physics    26. Selbstlernen    27. Selbstorganisierende Karten   

Reviews (2)

an excellent treatment
We used this book in an advanced undergraduate/early graduate class in computer algebra.The book provides a concise and rigorous, but very readable introduction to computational algebra theory, with algorithms written in pseudo code. Clear and understandable, but some bugs
I found this book very useful as a reference while writing a smallcomputer algebra system.It's a definate must-have for all the hordes ofpeople out there who are rewriting subsets of Maple, Mathematica, etc.Theexplanation of the theory is relatively clear and helpful so that anot-so-theory-inclined person (such as myself) can understand the material. The cost of such clarity is a loss of some conciseness so someone wholives and breathes abstract algebra may desire a more esoteric book (likeWinkler's). The biggest flaw of the book are the poorly debuggedalgorithms.Almost every algorithm presented in the book has some sort ofminor flaw with serious reprecussions on correctness.This results in muchfrustration if you're actually trying to implement the algorithms. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Algebra    2. Algebra - General    3. Algorithms    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computer Mathematics    6. Computer Science    7. Computers    8. Data processing    9. Mathematics    10. Computers / Computer Science    11. Computers-Computer Science    12. General Theory of Computing    13. Image processing    14. Mathematics / Algebra / General   

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Industrial Robotics    4. Programming Languages - Java    5. Robotics    6. Technology & Industrial Arts    7. Technology / Robotics   

Reviews (8)

Read this book second
I just finished reading "Learning By Doing" from cover to cover.Those who are practicing in this field will want to read this book to learn of techniques that might not be readily apparent such as branching stories and interactive spreadsheets.I would recommend that they read "What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy" by James Paul Gee first, however, as I found the writing style of "Learning By Doing" a little sparse, like fleshed out bullet point slides.It is clear, though, that the author has a lot of experience in this topic and his book is a contribution to the field.

Another Winner by Clark
It is no secret that "conventional eLearning" is not as engaging, interactive and interesting-and therefore also not as effective-as it should be. And we know that even current technology has the potential to do much more for "eLearning," or "technology-enabled learning" than we see today. And the rate of change in most technology is accelerating rather than slowing. It is the future potential that excites most of us who are involved in learning technology.
Aldrich Framework Extends to Assessment
[...]
Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Computer games    5. Computer-assisted instruction    6. Education    7. Employee Training And Development    8. Experimental Methods    9. General    10. Simulation methods    11. Training    12. Business & Economics / Training    13. Computer modelling & simulation    14. Personnel & human resources management   

Reviews (5)

A comprehensive monography
This is one out of very few books that exist on multiagent systems and distributed artificial intelligence which won't take for granted the reader. It has really taken me from elementary concepts up to industrial applications, passing over the actual "nitty gritty" of programming an agent. Many papers on artificial intelligence are just too mathematical for many readers, and those which have any application would describe what the program does, but only sometimes you get into knowing *how* the program does the trick. I personally would say the book is a "must-have-it", not only for those seeking to understand in concrete distributed artificial intelligence or multiagent systems, but also for any mathematician, physicists, computer scientists and engineer whose background touches somehow the concepts of artificial intelligence as a whole. Come to think of it, even any cunning philosopher of science could take real advantage of this book. Now then, concerning those industries which would like to have this book on their shelves, they would have to take in mind that this book is a departure point. A good one, but nevertheless only the start for deepening towards a concrete application the industry would have in mind.

Excellent Theoretical and Practical Book
Not a beginner's book: The technologies presented are relevant to (gasp) some real life problems. The treatment of Distributed Constraint Satisfaction problems was well written and usable. The initial treatment of all subjects was broad, delving into details after laying a sound foundation. Assumes a bit of mathematical sophistication on the part of the reader, but on the whole, well written, well organized and well worth it.

Great Textbook
While perhaps this should not be your first book in AI, it should definitely be your first book on agents. It took me years to accumulate the knowledge present in this book, and it's a great survey of the field for the beginning investigator. However, while this is a great way to get started in agents, understand how agents can be used in intelligent applications (from distributed AI type problem solving, to resource optimization problems), and "get the agent paradigm," coverage of agent software engineering techniques is light. This is not a fault of this book - you will simply need other resources to understand the difficulties and current research in engineering multi agent systems (or indeed any concurrent distributed system). So if you are trying to figure out what to do with agents, or how agent systems work, this is the book for you. If you already know that and want help with formal specification of an agent, verifying your agents meet the specifications, etc. this is not the book for you. Understand that to build systems you will need both! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Artificial Intelligence - General    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Science    4. Computers    5. Computers - General Information    6. Artificial intelligence    7. Computers / Artificial Intelligence   

Reviews (16)

Computer vision
I think this book is the most complete computer vision arguments. In fact it start to speaks from radiometry to steriovision passing by filter uses!!
A good up-to-date reference. Not for self teaching.
First of all, I got a 2003 reprint, and somehow, every single fraction bar (the division sign) is missing in the math expressions for the entire book! Very annoying. I had expected more from Prentice Hall.
Not a good book to begin with
The book fails to explain simple concepts in a clear way. Trying other literature such as 'Shapiro and Stockman's' book is enough to convince yourself that the same concepts can be explained clearly without losing insight. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Artificial Intelligence - General    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Vision    4. Computers    5. Computers - Other Applications    6. Problems, exercises, etc    7. Technology / Robotics   

Reviews (4)

In depth review of kernel methods in machine learning
Great book, but a word of caution, it is not for the novice.
best book of kernel methods
It is the best book on kernel methods. It covers a wide range of subjects. interesting introduction to support vector machine learning
The authors are young researchers who did their Ph.D. research in this rapidly developing branch of pattern recognition. Because they are young and are at the state of the art in the filed the book has sevral advantages and disadvantages and what I see as a disadvantage someone else might view as an advantage. Anyway here is my view.Read more

Subjects:  1. Algorithms    2. Algorithms (Computer Programming)    3. Artificial Intelligence - General    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computer Science    6. Computers    7. Computers - Other Applications    8. General    9. Kernel functions    10. Machine Learning    11. Programming - General    12. Computers / Computer Science    13. Databases & data structures    14. Mathematical theory of computation   

Reviews (6)

Not Very In-Depth, Not a lot of code examples
I went out and purchased this book based on some good reviews here at Amazon. I was really unimpressed with it. It is much less a primer on how to program "AI" types of apps with .NET, and much more a manual of how to use Microsoft applications like their speech services and data mining.
Great primer book on Microsoft technologies for Intelligent Apps
Building Intelligent .NET Applications is an excellent primer book into the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the business world, specifically related to Microsoft technologies.
A Disappointing Book
I recently purchased this book on Amazon.As an experienced .NET software developer, I am always keen on books that will expand my knowledge base in this area, and AI has been a particular interest of mine lately.Having read through much of the book, I have found it very disappointing.I would sum it up as a very shallow introduction to AI topics (often referred to as "Narrow AI") such as Data Mining.This book is more a manual on how to use Microsoft technologies, and does not include anywhere near the depth or practical examples needed on the subjects presented.I have personally found better info online. Read more

Subjects:  1. Artificial Intelligence    2. Artificial Intelligence - General    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Communications / Networking    6. Microcomputer Application Software    7. Microsoft .NET    8. Networking - General    9. Programming - General    10. Applications of Computing    11. Computer Communications & Networking    12. Computer Programming    13. Computers / Networking / General   

Editorial Review

How much do we humans enjoy our current status as the most intelligent beings on earth? Enough to try to stop our own inventions from surpassing us in smarts? If so, we'd better pull the plug right now, because if Ray Kurzweil is right we've only got until about 2020 before computers outpace the human brain in computational power. Kurzweil, artificial intelligence expert and author of Read more

Reviews (178)

Judge By The Evidence
I read SINGULARITY before SPIRITUAL which, of course, is exactly the wrong order.In the time since this book was published he has had an opportunity (in SINGULARITY) to reflect, confirm and gloat if you will. Unlike Drake, who promised we would receive confirmation of extraterrestrial life by the year 2000, Kurzweil is amazingly accurate. He forecast an extremely short discovery period for the Human Genome (confounding the "experts" who predicted 100s of years).He stated that Big Blue would defeat a human - this after a devestating defeat. He correctly predicted the exponential rate of computer power and all that this implies for our future.
engineer scientist review
An excellent and entertaining 1999 book on how computer capability may continue to evolve over the next century with some scarey possibilities, but nevertheless credible.Highly recommended.

Good for a skim, that is all
This book speculates about both the advance of computer technology in the 21st century and the socio-political response to it.Although it is peppered with a few interesting notions worth skimming, much of the speculation is unreasonable and philosophically naive.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Artificial Intelligence - General    2. Artificial intelligence    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. General    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Social Aspects    8. Social Aspects - General    9. Technology    10. Computers / Artificial Intelligence   

Reviews (16)

The best book to learn Neural Networks
As an undergraduate Math and Computing student, when I took up a high-level course in Neural Networks as an open elective, the only book my instructor recommended was Neural Networks by Simon Haykin. I got that book, and was soon put off by the mathematical rigour it had.
best for beginnner
I found it is best for beginner with best suited examples. It teaches as if teacher is with you and the way examples seleted is the best. After completion of this book you feel as if expert in subjet with true fundamental knowledge in ANN programming. Best book to start with ANN Programming

helpful
I bought this book ages ago without any knowledge of neural nets and used the book and accompanying neutral.exe executable to conduct a research study.I am not a C/C++ programmer so I cannot speak to the clarity or quality of the code but I did carefully read the text of the book and I found it very helpful in understanding neural nets and applying them.(Readers might complement this book with a good, practical social sciences text on applying regression... for example, Masters and the AI community seemed to have a poor grasp of the phenomenon of "shrinkage" in noisy environments.)