Beatrice Lazzerini

Rapid advances in evolutionary computation have opened up a world of applications-a world rapidly growing and evolving. Decision making, neural networks, pattern recognition, complex optimization/search tasks, scheduling, control, automated programming, and cellular automata applications all rely on evolutionary computation. Evolutionary Computation presents the basic principles of evolutionary computing: genetic algorithms, evolution strategies, evolutionary programming, genetic programming, learning classifier systems, population models, and applications. It includes detailed coverage of binary and real encoding, including selection, crossover, and mutation, and discusses the (m+l) and (m,l) evolution strategy principles. The focus then shifts to applications: decision strategy selection, training and design of neural networks, several approaches to pattern recognition, cellular automata, applications of genetic programming, and more.

Fuzzy set theory - and its underlying fuzzy logic - represents one of the most significant scientific and cultural paradigms to emerge in the last half-century. Its theoretical and technological promise is vast, and we are only beginning to experience its potential. Clustering is the first and most basic application of fuzzy set theory, but forms the basis of many, more sophisticated, intelligent computational models, particularly in pattern recognition, data mining, adaptive and hierarchical clustering, and classifier design. Fuzzy Sets and their Application to Clustering and Training offers a comprehensive introduction to fuzzy set theory, focusing on the concepts and results needed for training and clustering applications. It provides a unified mathematical framework for fuzzy classification and clustering, a methodology for developing training and classification methods, and a general method for obtaining a variety of fuzzy clustering algorithms. The authors - top experts from around the world - combine their talents to lay a solid foundation for applications of this powerful tool, from the basic concepts and mathematics through the study of various algorithms, to validity functionals and hierarchical clustering. The result is Fuzzy Sets and their Application to Clustering and Training - an outstanding initiation into the world of fuzzy learning classifiers and fuzzy clustering.