February 1998, Vol. 15, No. 2

The mobile robot systems described in this book were selected from among the best available implementations by leading universities and research labs. These are robots that have left the lab and been tested in natural and unknown environments. They perform many different tasks, from giving tours to collecting trash. Many have distinguished themselves (usually with first- or second-place finishes) at various indoor and outdoor mobile robot competitions.

Each case study is self-contained and includes detailed descriptions of important algorithms, including pseudo-code. This book serves as a kind of recipe book for the design of successful mobile robot applications. Common themes include navigation and mapping, computer vision and architecture.

Kortenkamp and Bonasso are with Metrica Inc., NASA Johnson Space Center, and Murphy is with Colorado School of Mines.

Talking Nets: An Oral History of Neurocomputing, edited by James A. Anderson and Edward Rosenfeld, A Bradford Book, 500 pages, $35, ISBN 0-262-01167-0

Since World War Two, a group of scientists have been attempting to understand the human nervous system and to build computer systems that emulate the brain's abilities. Many of the early workers in this field of neural networks came from cybernetics; others came from neuroscience, physics, electrical engineering, mathematics, psychology, and economics. In this collection of interviews, those who helped to shape the field share their childhood memories, their influences, how they became interested in neural networks, and what they see as its future.

The subjects tell stories that have been told, referred to, whispered about, and imagined throughout the history of the field. Some of the people responsible for the foundations of modern brain theory and cybernetics, such as Norbert Wiener, Warren McCulloch and Frank Rosenblatt, appear prominently in the recollections. The interviewees together tell the story of how science is actually done, including the false starts, and the Darwinian struggle for jobs, resources and reputation.

The interviewees include: James Anderson, Michael Arbib, Gail Carpenter, Leon Cooper, Jack Cowan, Walter Freeman, Stephen Grossberg, Robert Hecht-Nielsen, Geoffrey Hinton, Teuvo Kohonen, Bart Kosko, Jerome Lettvin, Carver Mead, David Rumelhart, Terry Sejnowski, Paul Werbos and Bernard Widrow.

Network and Netplay: Virtual Groups on the Internet, edited by Fay Sudweeks, Margaret L. McLaughlin and Sheizaf Rafaeli, AAAI Press, 320 pages, $35, ISBN 0-262-69206-6

The World Wide Web offers millions of users the opportunity to exchange e-mail, photographs and sound clips; to search databases for books, CDs, cars and term papers; to participate in real-time audio- and video-conferencing; and to shop for products both virtual and physical. This huge conglomerate of links, hyperlinks and virtual links is not just a technology for linking computers — it is a medium for communication.

The convergence of computer and communication technologies creates a social convergence as well. People meet in chat rooms and discussion groups to converse on everything from auto mechanics to post-modern art. Networked groups form virtually and on-the-fly, as common interests dictate. Like interpersonal communication, the networks are participatory, their content made up by their audience. Like mass-mediated communication, they involve large audiences. But the networks are neither purely interpersonal nor purely mass — they are a new phenomenon.

This book addresses the mutual influences between information technology (IT) and group formation and development, to assess the impact of computer-mediated communications on both work and play. Areas discussed include the growth and features of the Internet, network norms and experiences, and the essential nature of network communication.

Sudweeks is with the University of Sydney, McLaughlin is with the University of Southern California and Rafaeli is with Hebrew University of Jerusalem.