About the book
(buying the book as hardcover or as ebook; teaching resources; etc.)
Reviews and news reports about the book
A pictorial introduction to vagueness
Hedges: a lighthearted episode featuring the science writer Simon Singh and the singer Katie Melua (video fragment). See also
this written contribution by Singh.
Vagueness illustrated by news items
Research web sites (projects, research papers, bibliographies)
A brief postscript to the book, with pointers to the recent psychology literature
The author and his colleagues at Aberdeen
Send email to k.vdeemter atnospam abdn dot ac dot uk
Page last updated 9 December 2011
How warm is a ‘warm day’? Where should we draw the ‘poverty line’? Are you the same person as you were yesterday?
None of these questions can be given a clear-cut answer. We operate in a world full of continuous variation, relying on concepts that are not precisely defined but vague around the edges. This book,
which cuts across logic, linguistics, and artificial intelligence, considers the challenges posed by
vagueness, showing how vagueness is often difficult to avoid, and frequently (though not always!) useful too. It defends a
perspective on vagueness that hinges on probabilities instead of crisp dichotomies or degrees of truth. Last but not least, the book shows how
Natural Language Generation programs are becoming more sophisticated in their treatment of numerical information, allowing computers to use
vague language judicially in their interaction with human users.
