This book consists of selected papers written by the founder of fuzzy
set theory, Lotfi A Zadeh. Since Zadeh is not only the founder of this
field, but has also been the principal contributor to its development
over the last 30 years, the papers contain virtually all the major ideas
in fuzzy set theory, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy systems in their historical
context. Many of the ideas presented in the papers are still open to
further development. The book is thus an important resource for anyone
interested in the areas of fuzzy set theory, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy
systems, as well as their applications. Moreover, the book is also
intended to play a useful role in higher education, as a rich source of
supplementary reading in relevant courses and seminars.The book contains
a bibliography of all papers published by Zadeh in the period 1949-1995.
It also contains an introduction that traces the development of Zadeh's
ideas pertaining to fuzzy sets, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy systems via his
papers. The ideas range from his 1965 seminal idea of the concept of a
fuzzy set to ideas reflecting his current interest in computing with
words -- a computing in which linguistic expressions are used in place
of numbers.Places in the papers, where each idea is presented can easily
be found by the reader via the Subject Index.