Creative solutions are easily recognizable, after they have been created. But how to attain them? This book is about a promising approach to creative problem solving - the use of heuristics. The main purpose of an heuristic is to make problem solving more efficient, by making past experience - which could guide the generation of new solutions - promptly available. The heuristic approach is widely used in TRIZ (the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving), which is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Successful results of using heuristics have been reported by companies such as ABB, Bosch, General Motors, Ford, Mitsubishi, Philips, Siemens, among others. With this book, the reader will be able to: - Understand the 121 Heuristics for problem solving, both from their descriptions and from selected examples; - Find the more promising Heuristic(s) for the solution of his/her problems; - Apply the heuristics and find creative solutions to his/her problems.

A unique collection of competition problems from over twenty major national and international mathematical competitions for high school students. Written for trainers and participants of contests of all levels up to the highest level, this will appeal to high school teachers conducting a mathematics club who need a range of simple to complex problems and to those instructors wishing to pose a "problem of the week", thus bringing a creative atmosphere into the classrooms. Equally, this is a must-have for individuals interested in solving difficult and challenging problems. Each chapter starts with typical examples illustrating the central concepts and is followed by a number of carefully selected problems and their solutions. Most of the solutions are complete, but some merely point to the road leading to the final solution. In addition to being a valuable resource of mathematical problems and solution strategies, this is the most complete training book on the market.

The work presented here is generally intended for engineers, educators at all levels, industrialists, managers, researchers and political representatives. Offering a snapshot of various types of research conducted within the field of TRIZ in France, it represents a unique resource. ​It has been two decades since the TRIZ theory originating in Russia spread across the world. Every continent adopted it in a different manner – sometimes by glorifying its potential and its perspectives (the American way); sometimes by viewing it with mistrust and suspicion (the European way); and sometimes by adopting it as-is, without questioning it further (the Asian way). However, none of these models of adoption truly succeeded. Today, an assessment of TRIZ practices in education, industry and research is necessary. TRIZ has expanded to many different scientific disciplines and has allowed young researchers to reexamine the state of research in their field. To this end, a call was sent out to all known francophone research laboratories producing regular research about TRIZ. Eleven of them agreed to send one or more of their postdoctoral researchers to present their work during a seminar, regardless of the maturity or completeness of their efforts. It was followed by this book project, presenting one chapter for every current thesis in order to reveal the breadth, the richness and the perspectives that research about the TRIZ theory could offer our society. The topics dealt with e.g. the development of new methods inspired by TRIZ, educational practices, and measuring team impact.

The ability to learn is one of the most fundamental attributes of intelligent behavior. Consequently, progress in the theory and computer modeling of learn ing processes is of great significance to fields concerned with understanding in telligence. Such fields include cognitive science, artificial intelligence, infor mation science, pattern recognition, psychology, education, epistemology, philosophy, and related disciplines. The recent observance of the silver anniversary of artificial intelligence has been heralded by a surge of interest in machine learning-both in building models of human learning and in understanding how machines might be endowed with the ability to learn. This renewed interest has spawned many new research projects and resulted in an increase in related scientific activities. In the summer of 1980, the First Machine Learning Workshop was held at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. In the same year, three consecutive issues of the Inter national Journal of Policy Analysis and Information Systems were specially devoted to machine learning (No. 2, 3 and 4, 1980). In the spring of 1981, a special issue of the SIGART Newsletter No. 76 reviewed current research projects in the field. . This book contains tutorial overviews and research papers representative of contemporary trends in the area of machine learning as viewed from an artificial intelligence perspective. As the first available text on this subject, it is intended to fulfill several needs.

This is a practical anthology of some of the best elementary problems in different branches of mathematics. Arranged by subject, the problems highlight the most common problem-solving techniques encountered in undergraduate mathematics. This book teaches the important principles and broad strategies for coping with the experience of solving problems. It has been found very helpful for students preparing for the Putnam exam.

This book is the only source that provides a systematic, integrated introduction to problem solving using modern heuristics, presenting the state-of-the-art in both numerical and analytic methods. It covers classic methods of optimization, including dynamic programming, the simplex method, and gradient techniques, as well as recent innovations such as simulated annealing, tabu search, and evolutionary computation. Integrated into the discourse is a series of problems and puzzles to challenge the reader. Written in a lively, engaging style, readers will learn how to use some of the most powerful problem solving tools currently available.

How do we understand numbers? Do animals and babies have numerical abilities? Why do some people fail to grasp numbers, and how we can improve numerical understanding? Numbers are vital to so many areas of life: in science, economics, sports, education, and many aspects of everyday life from infancy onwards. Numerical cognition is a vibrant area that brings together scientists from different and diverse research areas (e.g., neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, comparative psychology, anthropology, education, and neuroscience) using different methodological approaches (e.g., behavioral studies of healthy children and adults and of patients; electrophysiology and brain imaging studies in humans; single-cell neurophysiology in non-human primates, habituation studies in human infants and animals, and computer modeling). While the study of numerical cognition had been relatively neglected for a long time, during the last decade there has been an explosion of studies and new findings. This has resulted in an enormous advance in our understanding of the neural and cognitive mechanisms of numerical cognition. In addition, there has recently been increasing interest and concern about pupils' mathematical achievement in many countries, resulting in attempts to use research to guide mathematics instruction in schools, and to develop interventions for children with mathematical difficulties. This handbook brings together the different research areas that make up the field of numerical cognition in one comprehensive and authoritative volume. The chapters provide a broad and extensive review that is written in an accessible form for scholars and students, as well as educationalists, clinicians, and policy makers. The book covers the most important aspects of research on numerical cognition from the areas of development psychology, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and rehabilitation, learning disabilities, human and animal cognition and neuroscience, computational modeling, education and individual differences, and philosophy. Containing more than 60 chapters by leading specialists in their fields, the Oxford Handbook of Numerical Cognition is a state-of-the-art review of the current literature.

Problems block and slow down your progress; here’s how to overcome them–simply, efficiently and effectively. This book offers straightforward, empowering science-based solutions to problems, big and small, at work or in life. It takes a never before seen approach to problem solving, powerfully combining lessons from cognitive science, established problem-solving theory and vast practical experience. It includes a radical new approach to analysing problems: The Problem Matrix. This will transform your approach to problems, challenge your thinking and help you develop new, positive, solution-focussed mindsets for the long-term.

Metaheuristics support managers in decision-making with robust tools that provide high-quality solutions to important applications in business, engineering, economics, and science in reasonable time frames, but finding exact solutions in these applications still poses a real challenge. However, because of advances in the fields of mathematical optimization and metaheuristics, major efforts have been made on their interface regarding efficient hybridization. This edited book will provide a survey of the state of the art in this field by providing some invited reviews by well-known specialists as well as refereed papers from the second Matheuristics workshop to be held in Bertinoro, Italy, June 2008. Papers will explore mathematical programming techniques in metaheuristics frameworks, and especially focus on the latest developments in Mixed Integer Programming in solving real-world problems.