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| Thinking on the Web: Berners-Lee, Goedel and Turing | 
| Authors: H. Peter Alesso, Craig F. Smith
Publisher: Wiley-Interscience
Category: Book
List Price: $49.95
Buy New: $35.00
You Save: $14.95 (30%)
Buy New/Used from $35.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (5 reviews)
Sales Rank: 1098042
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 261
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0471768146
Dewey Decimal Number: 004.678
EAN: 9780471768142
ASIN: 0471768146
Publication Date: September 12, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
- Provides valuable insight into the progress and direction of development of the World Wide Web and its likely future applications in science and business.
- Reviews the prospects for the Web to develop intelligent services (such as online businesses, games, purchases, new search capabilities, and accessibility to trustworthy information).
- Offers a view for thinking about thinking on the Web.
- The companion website offers access to supplemental text, specialized information, additional examples, demos, tools reference material, and advanced applications.
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| Customer Reviews:
 more about AI instead of semantic web May 12, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I look for a book to learn semantic web, but this one is more about AI. First 70 pages are history ,story of logic, thinking and ...
If you want to learn something proparly don't buy this book.
The only good thing I found is that it is 260 pages and not more than 300 pages
Good Introduction to Semantic Web Concepts December 22, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The book is a good introduction to the concepts underlying the Semantic Web, and this is why I give it a good rating. But beware, if you are already familiar with taxonomies, ontologies, and inference engines, you are unlikely to learn anything new from reading this book. It is really targeted at more casual readers, IMHO.
On the annoying side, the authors constantly repeat themselves. Many paragraphs seem to be repeated word for word not just two but often three times throughout the book. I guess it is an effective way to ingrain the newly acquired information in one's brain, but it is also a waste of time. Another annoying thing is the number of typos in this text. I do not think I have seen that many typos in a book, ever. Even worse, many of these typos are of the kind that could have been detected easily by a spellchecker. Somebody at Wiley did not do his job. Hopefully, the errors in this book are all of the typo kind and not semantical...
progress towards the Semantic Web November 30, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The authors give us a lucid view of the future of the Web. The Semantic Web, as named by Berners-Lee. Interspersed in the narrative are the views of Godel and Turing. Two giants whose writings and forecasts are still relevant. Indeed, one aim of the book is to demonstrate this relevance to the modern reader.
The other objective of the book is to show what progress has been made towards the Semantic Web. The problem of how to write meaning into the next Web is indeed very hard. But the book shows intermediate steps, like RDF and how to make ontologies. Understand that the book does not conclude with the goal of inscribing meaning fully achieved. Still, you can understand how far we have come.
 Machine Intelligence presented intelligently November 2, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I liked this book. It actually had three distinctive features: First, the general presentation of the pioneers Berners-Lee, Godel and Turing with the key questions they posed was well done. Second, the chapters on ontology engineering, RDF, and OWL were instructive and had good examples. I found the chapters on semantic search and semantic services particularly interesting. Third, the interludes consisted of several pages of debate in-between chapters.
I particularly enjoyed the interludes - these short debates between two fictitious characters crystallized many issues dealing with AI, thinking and intelligence as they emerged from the chapter material. They were presented with humor and high spirits, but the arguments seemed well-founded and balanced. They included amusing backdrops, such as, the characters playing a chess match while discussing the tournament between Gary Kasparov and IBM's Deep Blue computer.
Maybe the Web will be able to "think" some day. You decide. October 30, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Although the target audience for this book is most likely comprised of computer science students, those well versed in computer science, IT type professionals and anyone with a vested interest in remaining on the leading edge of Web capabilities, it is my opinion that even a casual reader will benefit from reading this book. Because this book makes one aware of the current Web limitations and describes how it could be significantly more than what it is today and then launch us into the real Information Revolution. Yes, according to the authors we have not yet experienced the full Information Revolution.
This book makes you think about thinking or at least the thinking process as it relates to instilling the Web with enough artificial intelligence (AI) to make it capable of thinking. I learned from this book that the Web, as it is currently structured, it not really very intelligent at all and there are many enhancements that have to be made to bring the Web to its full potential. Those who are in any way interested in the Web achieving its full potential will be well served by reading this book.
The authors take on a sizable task and do an excellent job of interweaving the philosophical with the technical aspects of AI as a driver and/or incremental part of enabling the Web to "think". The authors start from the beginning and bring us up to the current status of web thinking. The beginning here is literally from Aristotle and along the way they spend considerable time laying a foundation that includes the significant contributions of Berners-Lee, Goedel, and Turing. After the first part of the book establishes the foundation, the second part of the book becomes very technical (as you would expect) focusing on Web ontology and logic and a lot more to address the complex superstructure that will be required to establish thinking on the Web.
One aspect of this book that I found refreshing and I believe unique for a technical book are the interludes at the end of each chapter. These interludes are a running interaction/dialogue between two computer science students as they debate/discuss the feasibility of using AI applications, etc. to make the Web capable of thinking. These interludes are refreshing to read and give a real life perspective of how daunting the task is to make thinking on the Web possible. And, indeed will we all ever agree on what thinking on the Web really means and if it is ever fully achieved? My opinion after reading this book is that there will probably not ever be a unanimous agreement. Of course, you will have to judge for yourself.
I gave this book five stars because I really learned a lot, and some of what I learned was more than I bargained for, a real surprise. The authors did a thorough job, and the book stimulates a lot of thinking about something we take for granted --- and that is thinking. Enjoy the book and when you read it, expect to be challenged.
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