Ten years ago, Zadeh has brought into vogue the use of a name. Scientists no is an increasing less than poets strike off words that fit a situation. Today there recognition that for understanding vagueness, a fuzzy approach is required. We are just going through ~ transient period. From discussions of general philosophy to practical methods for system analysis. Unfortunately, much of the existing research is scattered. The practitioner interested in these methods face the challenge of sorting through a vast amount of literature to find a core on which to build. One of the objects of this book was to facilitate communication by bringing toge­ ther different viewpoints and coloring them from a common viewpoint. Since the romanian version appeared, at the very beginning of 1974, there has been a rapid growth in the literature of fuzzy modelling. A minor revision would have left the book quite out-of-date. The opportunity has been taken to correct, clarify, and update. Inexactness is implicit in human behaviour and erare humanum est. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the help we have received in preparing this version. The opportunity to see an english edition was a powerful stimulus, and we are grateful to Salomon Klaczko for making this possible. Another debt is to all fuzzy authors we have quoted. Their fascinating papers kindled our interest in the subject.