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Automata and Mechanical Toys
No other craft so brilliantly captures the magic of turning a handle, þicking a switch, or pulling a lever to see the unexpected come to life. Automata and Mechanical Toys is a book for anyone drawn to simple, entertaining mechanics. The book features 21 leading makers, each with a distinctive style. With 160 color photos and 100 delightful examples of the craft, the book is a feast for collectors and enthusiasts. A substantial section of the book is devoted to making automata mechanisms, ideal for novices or those wishing to learn new techniques. Illustrated, step-by-step instructions explain how to make a bearings box, which separately houses all the main mechanisms used in automata. The box can then be converted to any mechanism you choose. Rodney Peppé is a winner of the British Toymakers’ Guild Toy of the Year Award; he has had exhibitions of his work at the Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood. He is also the author of Rodney Peppé’s Moving Toys..
Price: $28.80
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Paper Automata: Four Working Models to Cut Out & Glue Together
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Beyond AI: Creating the Conscience of the Machine
Artificial intelligence (AI) is now advancing at such a rapid clip that it has the potential to transform our world in ways both exciting and disturbing Computers have already been designed that are capable of driving cars, playing soccer, and finding and organizing information on the Web in ways that no human could. With each new gain in processing power, will scientists soon be able to create supercomputers that can read a newspaper with understanding, or write a news story, or create novels, or even formulate laws? And if machine intelligence advances beyond human intelligence, will we need to start talking about a computer's intentions? These are some of the questions discussed by computer scientist J. Storrs Hall in this fascinating layperson's guide to the latest developments in artificial intelligence. Drawing on a thirty-year career in artificial intelligence and computer science, Hall reviews the history of AI, discussing some of the major roadblocks that the field has recently overcome, and predicting the probable achievements in the near future. There is new excitement in the field over the amazing capabilities of the latest robots and renewed optimism that achieving human-level intelligence is a reachable goal. But what will this mean for society and the relations between technology and human beings? Soon ethical concerns will arise and programmers will need to begin thinking about the computer counterparts of moral codes and how ethical interactions between humans and their machines will eventually affect society as a whole. Weaving disparate threads together in an enlightening manner from cybernetics, computer science, psychology, philosophy of mind, neurophysiology, game theory, and economics, Hall provides an intriguing glimpse into the astonishing possibilities and dilemmas on the horizon..
Price: $18.07
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Automata Too: Four Working Models to Cut Out and Glue Together
If you like making working models, then you will be delighted with this collection The 'Run-about-Train' follows its track through the tunnel and the 'Busy-buzzy Bees' buzz about in a rather random and bee-like fashion. The 'Hare and Tortoise' race to a very close finish, and the 'Owl and the Pussy-cat' set off in their pea-green boat. All of them make use of different mechanismsand the collection is a fine display of ingenious and colorful paper engineering..
Price: $10.20
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Parsing Techniques: A Practical Guide (Monographs in Computer Science)
Parsing, also referred to as syntax analysis, has been and continues to be an essential part of computer science and linguistics Today, parsing techniques are also implemented in a number of other disciplines, including but not limited to, document preparation and conversion, typesetting chemical formulae, and chromosome recognition. This second edition presents new developments and discoveries that have been made in the field. Parsing techniques have grown considerably in importance, both in computational linguistics where such parsers are the only option, and computer science, where advanced compilers often use general CF parsers. Parsing techniques provide a solid basis for compiler construction and contribute to all existing software: enabling Web browsers to analyze HTML pages and PostScript printers to analyze PostScript. Some of the more advanced techniques are used in code generation in compilers and in data compression. In linguistics, the importance of formal grammars was recognized early on, but only recently have the corresponding parsing techniques been applied. Also their importance as general pattern recognizers is slowly being acknowledged. This text Parsing Techniques explores new developments, such as generalized deterministic parsing, linear-time substring parsing, parallel parsing, parsing as intersection, non-canonical methods, and non-Chomsky systems. To provide readers with low-threshold access to the full field of parsing techniques, this new edition uses a two-tiered structure. The basic ideas behind the dozen or so existing parsing techniques are explained in an intuitive and narrative style, and problems are presented at the conclusion of each chapter, allowing the reader to step outside the bounds of the covered material and explore parsing techniques at various levels. The reader is also provided with an extensive annotated bibliography as well as hints and partial solutions to a number of problems. In the bibliography, hundreds of realizations and improvements of parsing techniques are explained in a much terser, yet still informal, style, improving its readability and usability. The reader should have an understanding of algorithmic thinking, especially recursion; however, knowledge of any particular programming language is not required.
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Price: $45.46
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Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation (3rd Edition)
This classic book on formal languages, automata theory, and computational complexity has been updated to present theoretical concepts in a concise and straightforward manner with the increase of hands-on, practical applications. This new edition comes with Gradiance, an online assessment tool developed for computer science. Gradiance is the most advanced online assessment tool developed for the computer science discipline. With its innovative underlying technology, Gradiance turns basic homework assignments and programming labs into an interactive learning experience for students. By using a series of “root questions” and hints, it not only tests a student’s capability, but actually simulates a one-on-one teacher-student tutorial that allows for the student to more easily learn the material. Through the programming labs, instructors are capable of testing, tracking, and honing their students’ skills, both in terms of syntax and semantics, with an unprecedented level of assessment never before offered. .
Price: $75.00
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Nonlinear Workbook: Chaos, Fractals, Cellular Automata, Neural Networks, Genetic Algorithms, Gene Expression
The study of nonlinear dynamical systems has advanced tremendously in the last 20 years, making a big impact on science and technology. This book provides all the techniques and methods used in nonlinear dynamics. The concepts and underlying mathematics are discussed in detail. The numerical and symbolic methods are implemented in C++, SymbolicC++ and Java. Object-oriented techniques are also applied. The book contains more than 150 ready-to-run programs. The text has also been designed for a one-year course at both the junior and senior levels in nonlinear dynamics. The topics discussed in the book are part of e-learning and distance learning courses conducted by the International School for Scientific Computing, University of Johannesburg. Contents: Nonlinear and Chaotic Maps; Time Series Analysis; Autonomous Systems in the Plane; Nonlinear Hamilton Systems; Nonlinear Dissipative Systems; Nonlinear Driven Systems; Controlling of Chaos; Synchronization of Chaos; Fractals; Cellular Automata; Solving Differential Equations; Neural Networks; Genetic Algorithms; Gene Expression Programming; Optimization; Discrete Wavelets; Discrete Hidden Markov Processes; Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic..
Price: $41.76
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Cities and Complexity: Understanding Cities with Cellular Automata, Agent-Based Models, and Fractals
As urban planning moves from a centralized, top-down approach to a decentralized, bottom-up perspective, our conception of urban systems is changing. In Cities and Complexity, Michael Batty offers a comprehensive view of urban dynamics in the context of complexity theory, presenting models that demonstrate how complexity theory can embrace a myriad of processes and elements that combine into organic wholes. He argues that bottom-up processes—in which the outcomes are always uncertain—can combine with new forms of geometry associated with fractal patterns and chaotic dynamics to provide theories that are applicable to highly complex systems such as cities. Batty begins with models based on cellular automata (CA), simulating urban dynamics through the local actions of automata. He then introduces agent-based models (ABM), in which agents are mobile and move between locations. These models relate to many scales, from the scale of the street to patterns and structure at the scale of the urban region. Finally, Batty develops applications of all these models to specific urban situations, discussing concepts of criticality, threshold, surprise, novelty, and phase transition in the context of spatial developments. Every theory and model presented in the book is developed through examples that range from the simplified and hypothetical to the actual. Deploying extensive visual, mathematical, and textual material, Cities and Complexity will be read both by urban researchers and by complexity theorists with an interest in new kinds of computational models. Sample chapters and examples from the book, and other related material, can be found at http://www.complexcity.info..
Price: $25.51
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