The overarching theme of reasoning about actions frames the collection of diverse papers presented in this book. Four main themes are covered: logic, search, artificial intelligence (AI) planning, and applications. The logic theme dominates the book, and is frequently intertwined with the other three themes.

AI planning is the natural derivative of logic, and is divided mainly into search algorithms and proof systems. Johansson et al. cover first rippling, and Melis et al. and Turini et al. look at the different ways of proof planning, either by coordination or by integration. Finally, Traverso looks at probabilistic planning and its applications in Web services and robotics, which are the two main application themes of the book. Sandewall discusses action coordination within multiagent (autonomous robotics) systems, while Nardi and Locchi discuss the use of AI in RoboCup robotics. Sandewall’s paper focuses on the use of cognitive robotics logic (CRL). It discusses the process of axiomatization of actions and the formalization of inference. The second application area is Web services. While the Micarelli et al. paper reviews search engines’ use of AI, the Wahlster et al. paper addresses how the Internet can be used to record one’s life.

Overall, the book provides interesting information about the field of logic-based action representation and reasoning. It is an ideal beginning book for any researcher coming into the field.