The translation of human knowledge to computer models, i.e. the problem of ontology, is one of the most profound problems in the field of artificial intelligence, declares Hoekstra (U. of Amsterdam, the Netherlands), who provides an overview and introduction to the different perspectives on the subject, emphasizing one particular interpretation, that of knowledge representation, which focuses on problems surrounding the design and use of formal languages suitable for capturing human knowledge. Chapters discuss the historical development of the field of knowledge representation and acquisition; the ideas underlying the Semantic Web, the Web Ontology Language, and its successor OWL 2; the varying conceptions of what ontology is, primarily within philosophy and in knowledge representation; methodological approaches to building ontologies; the construction of a core ontology designed to support the reasoning task of a knowledge based system in the legal domain; and a suite of design patterns that have been implemented within that core ontology. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)