Fuzzy Logic of Lotfi Zade

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Yesterday one of the most well-known Azerbaijanis in the world, Honored Professor of the University of California in Berkley, the author of six fundamental scientific theories Lotfi Zade marked his 92nd birthday. The world knows Lotfi Zade as the father of Fuzzy Logic. His revolutionary idea ruined the limits of binary logic of Aristotle. His theory is used in economics, psychology, linguistics, politics, philosophy, sociology, religious issues and conflicts.

The scientist was born on February 4th, 1921, in Baku to journalist Ragim Aleskerzade and doctor Fania Koriman. In 1931 he moved to Iran together with his family, and in 1944 to the USA where he became a world famous scientist. According to him, his Azerbaijani blood gave him insistence and firmness and taught him not to fear a dispute. “It is a part of my character,” Lotfi Zade says. “It probably influenced the development of the theory of fuzzy sets.”

In Iran Lotfi Zade studied at Alborz High School, then Tehran University. After graduation he worked together with his father as a supplier of construction materials for American troops in Iran. When they moved to America, in 1959 Lotfi Zade began his brilliant career as a scientist at the University of California in Berkley.

In 1957 Lotfi Zade became the professor of the University of Columbia in the sphere of electric engineering. He moved to California and headed the chair of computer sciences and electric technology. Six years later Lotfi Zade presented the theory of problem space.

By the middle of the 1960s Lotfi Zade became one of the most well-known experts in the sphere of system theory, the theory of automatic management, and their implementation. In 1965 he published the article Fuzzy Sets and became popular in all scientific circles of the world. This work established a new direction in science. He proved by his studies that people’s arguments which rely on natural language cannot exist within traditional mathematic formalisms.

Before his revolutionary theory of fuzzy logic the classic logic could perceive the world only in black or white. Logic by Lotfi Zade enabled the perception of the world in all its colors and shades. The scientist believed that his theory would be most useful for linguistics, but Japanese scientists were the first to appreciate his theory. Japan gained a billion dollars due to the theory. Such famous companies as Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Sony, Canon, Sanyo, Nissan, Panasonic, Honda are using it for production of photo- and video cameras, washing machines, vacuum-cleaners, and the management of industrial processes. Later Americans (General Motors, General Eleсtriс, Motorola, Kodak) and Europeans began to implement it. The theory of Lotfi Zade is present in all spheres of our life.

Speaking about artificial mind, Lotfi Zade notes that a machine will never replace a human. “For example, Google – the most powerful and splendid searching system – can answer the question on how old Bush is or what the main city is in Azerbaijan. But if there was voting whether fuzzy logic is useful or not, I’m sure 99% would vote against it, but in 15-20 years people would admit that they were wrong.”