AI for Game Developers

Book Description

Advances in 3D visualization and physics-based simulation technology make it possible for game developers to create compelling, visually immersive gaming environments that were only dreamed of years ago. But today's game players have grown in sophistication along with the games they play. It's no longer enough to wow your players with dazzling graphics; the next step in creating even more immersive games is improved artificial intelligence, or AI. Fortunately, advanced AI game techniques are within the grasp of every game developer--not just those who dedicate their careers to AI. If you're new to game programming or if you're an experienced game programmer who needs to get up to speed quickly on AI techniques, you'll find AI for Game Developers to be the perfect starting point for understanding and applying AI techniques to your games. Written for the novice AI programmer, AI for Game Developers introduces you to techniques such as finite state machines, fuzzy logic, neural networks, and many others, in straightforward, easy-to-understand language, supported with code samples throughout the entire book (written in C/C++). From basic techniques such as chasing and evading, pattern movement, and flocking to genetic algorithms, the book presents a mix of deterministic (traditional) and non-deterministic (newer) AI techniques aimed squarely at beginners AI developers. Other topics covered in the book include:

Potential function based movements: a technique that handles chasing, evading swarming, and collision avoidance simultaneously
Basic pathfinding and waypoints, including an entire chapter devoted to the A* pathfinding algorithm
AI scripting
Rule-based AI: learn about variants other than fuzzy logic and finite state machines
Basic probability
Bayesian techniques

Unlike other books on the subject, AI for Game Developers doesn't attempt to cover every aspect of game AI, but to provide you with usable, advanced techniques you can apply to your games right now. If you've wanted to use AI to extend the play-life of your games, make them more challenging, and most importantly, make them more fun, then this book is for you.

Customer Reviews:

Good for implementing AI in games, not so good for theory.......2007-01-05

This book gives people that are new to AI in game programming a quick start in that area. If you are interested in looking at the broad fields of AI with direct application to game programming, this will show you a bit of everything. The text is clear and doesn't require any higher understanding of mathematics than some basic trigonometry. I think that the problem most people have with this book is that none of the chapters covers its subject in depth. Thus, people looking to learn AI from this book that ignor the "Game" part of the title will be disappointed. Full C++ sample programs are available on the books web site-the book is all in C++, and you should have no problems understanding the code with moderate C skills. Bresenham's line algorithm, line-of-sight-chasing and intercepting are all explained in a pretty simple way. My biggest complaint is that, even within the construct of game programming, the presentation of Bayesian systems and probability was too short for my taste. The following is a description of the book from the context of the table of contents:

Chapter 1, Introduction to Game AI - Defines game AI and discusses the current state of the art as well as the future of this technology.

Chapter 2, Chasing and Evading - Covers basic techniques for chasing and evading as well as more advanced techniques for intercepting. It also cover techniques applicable to both tile-based and continuous game environments.

Chapter 3, Pattern Movement - Pattern movement techniques are common to many video games and developers have been using them since the early days of gaming. You can use these techniques to preprogram certain behaviors such as the patrolling of a guard or the swooping in of a spacecraft.

Chapter 4, Flocking - The flocking method examined in this chapter is an example of an A-life algorithm. In addition to creating genuine looking flocking behavior, A-life algorithms form the basis of more advanced group movement.

Chapter 5, Potential Function Based Movement - Potential-based movement is relatively new in game AI applications. It can handle chasing, evading, swarming, and collision avoidance simultaneously.

Chapter 6, Basic Pathfinding and Waypoints - Game developers use many techniques to find paths in and around game environments. This chapter covers several of these methods, including waypoints.

Chapter 7, A* Pathfinding - No treatment of pathfinding is complete without addressing the workhorse algorithm of pathfinding; therefore, this whole chapter is devoted to the A* algorithm.

Chapter 8, Scripted AI and Scripting Engines - Programmers today often write scripting engines and hand off the tools to level designers who are responsible for creating the content and defining the AI. In this chapter, you'll explore some of the techniques developers use to apply a scripting system in their games.

Chapter 9, Finite State Machines - Finite state machines are the nuts and bolts of game AI. This chapter discusses the fundamentals of finite state machines and how to implement them.

Chapter 10, Fuzzy Logic - Developers use fuzzy logic in conjunction with or as a replacement for finite state machines. In this chapter, you'll learn the advantages fuzzy techniques offer over traditional logic techniques.

Chapter 11, Rule-Based AI - Technically, fuzzy logic and finite state machines fall under the general heading of rules-based methods. This chapter covers these methods as well as other variants.

Chapter 12, Basic Probability - Game developers commonly use basic probability to make their games less predictable. Such cheap unpredictability enables developers to maintain substantial control over their games. Here, basic probability is covered for this purpose as well as lay the groundwork for more advanced methods.

Chapter 13, Decisions Under Uncertainty--Bayesian Techniques - Bayesian techniques are probabilistic techniques, and in this chapter you learn how you can use them for decision making and for adaptation in games.

Chapter 14, Neural Networks - Game developers use neural networks for learning and adaptation in games for anything from making decisions to predicting the behavior of players.The most widely used neural network architecture is covered here.

Chapter 15, Genetic Algorithms - Genetic algorithms offer opportunities for evolving game AI. Although developers don't often use genetic algorithms in games, their potential for specific applications is promising, particularly if they are combined with other methods.

Appendix, Vector Operations - How to implement a C++ class that captures all of the vector operations that you'll need when writing 2D or 3D simulations.

All the chapters in this book are fairly independent of each other. Therefore, you generally can read the chapters in any order you want, without worrying about missing material in earlier chapters. The only exception to this rule is Chapter 12, on basic probability. If you don't have a background in probability, you should read this chapter before reading Chapter 13, on Bayesian methods. I would recommend this book if you are looking to implement AI into a game without wanting a complete explanation of the theory. If a complete explanation of the concepts is what you require, you will be disappointed.

Intelligent agents should steer clear from this book.......2005-07-17

Terrible and useless even for a book on AI for budding game developers. The theory and explanations in this book are sometimes decent but more often than not quite lacking. (es: in one of the first chapter the author uses Bresenham algorithm without taking the time to explain it). The use of tile based examples introduce unnecessary overhead, and the continuos attempts to introduce physics related code and references to the author's other book on game physics are just plain annoying. The range of subjects covered is very broad (chasing and evading, pathfinding, emergent behaviours, rule based reasoning, bayesian networks, neural networks, fuzzy logic, finite state machines, genetic algorithms), definitely too broad to treat each of these subject in decent depth and with clarity. Example code is of low quality and just superficially object-oriented. If you are looking for a decent introduction to game AI I recommend Matt Buckland "Programming Game AI by Example" and "AI Techniques for Game Programming".

Conceptually OK, terrible code & implementation.......2005-06-20

AI for Game Developers is a book aimed at beginner game programmers that want to apply AI techniques in their games. The range of topics covered is vast, chasing, flocking, pathfinding, state machines, bayesian networks, neutal networks, genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic and more.

The authors spend time to explain these AI concepts from the ground up, with numerous code samples and accompanied by full programs including GUIs & simulations, downloadable form the book's website.

So far all good, but not really so if you look a little closer. For a programmer with more experience than the complete novice, many problems become apparent quickly:

The code listings ("examples", as the authors uncommonly call them) are lacking in many aspects. The code is of low quality. C++-- some call it, and it's an appropriate name for the code of this book (take a big program with a bunch of globals and void foo(void) operating on them, wrap it all (public) in a class, and call it Object Oriented). The principal author is a scientific programmer, which shows well since the code looks sometimes like a port from Fortran. The code is also poorly typeset, in a font almost identical to the text, which makes samples hard to spot and follow. The authors also paste huge amounts of code in the book that sometimes fill whole pages, without any apparent reason. Another little deficiency is the typesetting / overall formatting quality of the book - some diagrams are simply missing, fonts are uncomfortable (especially the mix of code & text)...

It seems that most of this book's problems are about the code, though. On the conceptual level, the book is not bad. As far as I can judge, the explanations are clear and even novices should have no trouble understanding how the algorithms work. Just look away from the code, please !!

Great book to start into AI.......2005-03-16

Is good book to initiate within world of AI, brings very good examples on fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms, in my opinion would have to bring CD-ROM with more examples but even so I recommend them for people that is initiating within development of video games, have a simple way to explains concepts that in other books can that are abstract and until moments very confused, explain it of direct and very simple way, are a book not very extensive you will be able to read it in a pair of days, and thus to begin to apply it within any application or game, the code comes very simple manageable and easy to use, it comes in c++, I hope enjoy so much as I.

Excellent algorithm text even for non-game developers.......2004-09-26

I'm not a game developer by trade but I still found an excellent introduction to some interesting algorithms in this book. For me these included an introduction to neural networks (at the end of the book), probability theory, and finite state machines. I've read (and looked over) a number of books on game development and they, in general, seem to prattle on about the games themselves, or spend an inordinate amount of time on the graphics or the presentation. That stuff is important, but at the heart of these systems are algorithms animate the game and bring it to life. This book concentrates on those algorithms by expressly playing down the graphics elements.

I can safely recommend browsing this book to almost any software engineer. You may find some stuff that interests you and you can use even if you aren't a game developer.

Understanding .NET (2nd Edition) (Independent Technology Guides)

Average customer rating:

No tutorial
A very nice book
Good overview
Returned Book to store
Excellent resource

Understanding .NET (2nd Edition) (Independent Technology Guides)
David Chappell
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0321194047

Customer Reviews:

No tutorial.......2006-01-03

While this book is well written and provides an overview, it is important to note that there is absolutely no tutorial. If you are expecting an instructional section that is set up as a series of steps that progress through levels of difficulty and understanding that provide a working knowlege of the subject (as is implied by the word tutorial in the title)you will not find that in this book.

A very nice book.......2005-09-26

Excellent coverage - I learnt a lot and the examples are very good as well.

Good overview.......2005-08-29

Good overview of the .NET technology. Although it is a bit out of date...

Returned Book to store.......2005-08-04

As a software engineer moving from VC++ to .Net and C#, I did not see the value in this book. Yes, I wanted to understand the .Net environment, but the pertinent subject matter contained in this book was readily available in other books such as "Programming C#" by Jesse Liberty.

The first few chapters are OK, but the author drags on and subsequently put me to sleep. After covering the material that I was most interested in, he moves on to Web programming issues, which are not relevant to my work.

To be honest, I read the first few chapters, skimmed the next few, saw the web info, and returned the book. Maybe I did not give it a fair shot, but I did not see it being useful reference material to hang on to as I navigate thru the world of .Net and C#.

Excellent resource.......2004-06-14

Great flow and excellent content in this easy-to-read and easy-to-follow book on .Net. Highly recommend it for technical managers as well as business users interested in an introduction to .Net

Soft Computing and Intelligent Systems Design: Theory, Tools and Applications

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Soft Computing and Intelligent Systems Design: Theory, Tools and Applications
Fakhreddine O. Karray , and Clarence W De Silva
Manufacturer: Addison Wesley
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0321116178

Book Description

This book covers the problem of control and intelligent systems design using soft-computing techniques in an integrated manner. It presents both theory and applications, including industrial applications, and contains numerous worked examples, problems and case studies. The book covers the state-of-the-art in soft-computing techniques, giving the reader sufficient knowledge to tackle a wide range of complex systems for which traditional techniques are inadequate. It integrates theory and practice through the use of numerous worked examples and includes extensive coverage of control applciations. Anyone interested in artificial intelligence and/or control engineering.

AI Game Programming Wisdom 3 (Game Development Series)

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The State of the Art as it Exists Today

AI Game Programming Wisdom 3 (Game Development Series)
Steve Rabin
Manufacturer: Charles River Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1584504579

Book Description

AI Game Programming Wisdom 3 grants you an insider's look at cutting-edge AI techniques used by industry professionals in such games as Fable, Halo 2, and the Battlefield series. Successful commercial games like these require years of research and development in order to deliver exciting, new gameplay experiences. The wealth of knowledge gained through this hard work is invaluable and by sharing it, the 50+ authors in this book have generously given you the tools and techniques you need to build top tier games. In AI Game Programming Wisdom 3, you'll find an entirely new collection of exclusive tips, tricks, techniques, algorithms, and architectures that can't be found anywhere else. And as with previous volumes, the goal of this book is to offer useful, insightful, and clever ideas to help expand your own personal AI toolbox. New to this volume is the inclusion of longer and more detailed articles that allow for a more in-depth exploration of each topic. With this book, you'll be standing on the shoulders of game industry giants and taking advantage of their hard earned wisdom and insights. So take these techniques, build upon them, and lead the industry toward innovative gameplay and the next generation of games.

Customer Reviews:

The State of the Art as it Exists Today.......2006-03-31

Computer gaming continues to grow at a very rapid rate. In fact much of the development of the new higher speed chips and of course the high performance video cards are being driven by the needs of the gaming people.

Computer gaming software also continues to grow, perhaps even faster than gaming itself. Because of the rapid state of software development, no one author could possibly keep up with all of the changes that are taking place.

So in this book Steve Rabin, of Nintendo of America has gotten almost sixty of the most advanced gaming software developers to write articles explaining the state of the art as they are helping to develop it. The writers come from a mix of software companies, universities, independent consultants, and game hardware developers. This is the state of the art in the development of artificial intelligence for games.

Rethinking Innateness: A Connectionist Perspective on Development (Neural Networks and Connectionist Modeling)

Average customer rating:

The most important science book I've read in years
Very Technical
Chomsky is dead or at least dying...

Rethinking Innateness: A Connectionist Perspective on Development (Neural Networks and Connectionist Modeling)
Jeffrey L. Elman , Elizabeth A. Bates , Mark H. Johnson , Annette Karmiloff-Smith , Domenico Parisi , and Kim Plunkett
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 026255030X

Book Description

Rethinking Innateness asks the question, "What does it really mean to say that a behavior is innate?" The authors describe a new framework in which interactions, occurring at all levels, give rise to emergent forms and behaviors. These outcomes often may be highly constrained and universal, yet are not themselves directly contained in the genes in any domain-specific way.

One of the key contributions of Rethinking Innateness is a taxonomy of ways in which a behavior can be innate. These include constraints at the level of representation, architecture, and timing; typically, behaviors arise through the interaction of constraints at several of these levels. The ideas are explored through dynamic models inspired by a new kind of "developmental connectionism," a marriage of connectionist models and developmental neurobiology, forming a new theoretical framework for the study of behavioral development.

Customer Reviews:

The most important science book I've read in years.......2006-12-31

I came across this book while studying applied linguistics, and was curious about what Connectionist theory had to say against Noam Chomsky's nativist approach, which is that language is too complex a thing to be learned in the same way that we learn to swim or drive a car, and that it must be genetically ingrained, with a specific "language gene" that determines the fundamental parameters of how all human languages work.

Until reading this, I had heard all the conventional arguments against connectionsim -it was all computers and had nothing to do with the human mind, no computer simulation could ever come close to mimicing the complexity of the human mind, etc.

This book, mostly concerned with human development, has some fascinating and paradigm-changing ideas to add to the debate. If genes are so important, the authors argue, why don't we come out of the womb as fully formed adults with everything we need to know hardwired into us, as some lower species are? The authors show that there are simple flowers that have more genes than we do, demonstrating that gene count isn't the last word on an organism's complexity.

The authors make a powerful case that the state of childhood , and the complex development our minds experience during this time, is the reason that genes with specific codings don't have to do all the work- we are formed in interaction with our environments.

Rather than explaining everything, connectionist models simply demonstrate how, on the simplest level, our minds COULD work. While the models are simple, the results are fascinating. While obviously far less complex, the models really do demonstrate some of the quirks of human learning and acquisition in ways that more rigid, rule-based artificial intelligence doesn't.

I could write more, but this is a sprawling book packed with countless ideas, and even a brief summary would cover several pages. I admit that it can get technical at times, and I had to limit my reading of it to a few pages a day to fully digest it. But if you want to learn about this subject and have the dedication to get through it, it's an extremely worthwhile and rewarding investment of your time.

Very Technical.......2006-11-02

This book contains some thoughtful reasons for believing that many evolutionary psychologists overestimate how much information about the human mind is encoded in genes. However, it is mixed in with some highly technical developmental neurobiology that only a few specialists are likely to find interesting.
For nonspecialists, David Buller's book Adapting Minds says similar things about innateness in a style that is more suited for laymen.

Chomsky is dead or at least dying..........1999-10-18

Grammar isn't encoded in our genomes. It is learned. The beginnings of the proof are here. This is an important book. Read it and it's companion: Exercises in Rethinking Innateness : A Handbook for Connectionist Simulations; which gives you hands on with the models discussed.

Neuroscience and Connectionist Theory (Developments in Connectionist Theory)

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Neuroscience and Connectionist Theory (Developments in Connectionist Theory)

Manufacturer: Lawrence Erlbaum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805805044

Book Description

Written for cognitive scientists, psychologists, computer scientists, engineers, and neuroscientists, this book provides an accessible overview of how computational network models are being used to model neurobiological phenomena. Each chapter presents a representative example of how biological data and network models interact with the authors' research. The biological phenomena cover network- or circuit-level phenomena in humans and other higher-order vertebrates.

Adult Neurogenesis: Stem Cells and Neuronal Development in the Adult Brain

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An Outstanding Overview of an Extremely Important Topic

Adult Neurogenesis: Stem Cells and Neuronal Development in the Adult Brain
Gerd Kempermann
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195179714

Book Description

The discovery of adult neurogenesis and of stem cells in the brain has changed our view of the mature brain. Though we now know that the adult brain can make new neurons, it normally does so only in two privileged regions, the olfactory bulb and the hippocampus. Yet stem cells, which have the potential to produce new neurons, can be found throughout the adult brain. So why does the brain not make wider use of its potential for neurogenesis? And what is the function of new neurons and of neural stem cells in areas where they occur? After all, the brain regenerates poorly and many neurological and psychiatric disorders are chronic because cell replacement has not taken place. This is the first comprehensive, integrated account of one of the most exciting areas of neuroscience. It begins with the historical background and discusses theories of adult neurogenesis and neural stem cell biology in the context of learning and memory processes as well as structural plasticity. It describes in detail neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus and olfactory system and then surveys the regulatory, functional, and comparative aspects, concluding with a chapter on the provocative hypotheses that link failing adult neurogenesis with such diseases as temporal lobe epilepsy, major depression, brain tumors, and dementias. For graduate students, investigators, and clinicians in the neurosciences, developmental biology, and stem cell research, this book is a unique resource that sifts through the evidence for exciting scientific ideas and fosters a realistic view of the therapeutic possibilities for the use of stem cells in the adult brain.

Customer Reviews:

An Outstanding Overview of an Extremely Important Topic.......2006-12-22

Adult neurogenesis - the generation of new neurons in the adult brain - is one of the most exciting fields of inquiry in the neurosciences. Most people believed it to be impossible until quite recently. Gradually that view gave way to another: that perhaps it could occur under certain special circumstances. Now it has become an accepted part of mammalian neurobiology. While the best evidence for adult neurogenesis is in the olfactory bulb and hippocampus. There are tantalizing clues that it may also occur in other regions of the adult brain.

This is one of the first books in English to provide a comprehensive account of this fascinating field. It is written by Gerd Kempermann, who is Head of the Research Group, Neural Stem Cells, at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin-Buch in Germany, who is a recognized leader in the field.

The twelve chapters are arranged logically and systematically:
1. Introduction
2. History
3. Neural Stem Cells
4. Neuronal Development
5. Neurogenesis in Adult Olfactory System
6. Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis
7. Technical Notes
8. Neurogenic and Non-neurogenic Regions
9. Regulation
10. Function
11. Adult Neurogenesis in Different Animal Species
12. Medicine

Beginning with a brief overview and historical background, the book moves on to discuss theories of adult neurogenesis and neural stem cell biology in learning and memory as well as structural plasticity. After describing neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus and olfactory system, Professor Kempermann takes us through the current state of knowledge about the regulation and functions of neurogenesis. I particularly liked the last section where he tries - with some success - to tie failures of adult neurogenesis with some neurological diseases including temporal lobe epilepsy, major depression, some brain tumors and dementias. Some of these ideas have been published in scholarly articles over the last five years, but here the ideas are collected together and developed for the first time.

There is an important point that I could not find in the book: loss of the ability to smell, or to distinguish smells, are common early features of Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. In both there may also be pathology in the hippocampus. So the link between loss of olfaction and loss of memory may be impaired neurogenesis in the two sites.

The book is well written, despite English being a second language for the author. The illustrations are well selected and well produced.

At a time when it takes months or even a year or more to publish papers in the scientific literature, it is always difficult to try and keep books up to date. This one has plenty of citations up to the second half of 2004.

Serious students will want to use this book as a starting point and then supplement it with some reviews from the literature. (Interested readers will find regular updates on adult neurogenesis on my blogs.)

This book is an easy read and will be of interest to anyone interested in the brain and the mind, how things can go wrong, and some of the extraordinary promise of adult neurogenesis.

Highly recommended.

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The Neural Basis of Motor Control
Vernon B. Brooks
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195036840

Book Description

This authoritative study synthesizes physiology, neuroanatomy, kinesiology, and psychology in a thorough introduction to motor control. Readers will learn how the nervous system processes information, how the brain learns from previous experience and self-adjusts, and how behavioral intent is fitted into the circumstances of the moment. Throughout the book, the author considers questions of adaptation, motor learning, and guidance by the limbic system. Superbly illustrated and highlighted by many clinical examples, this volume is a clear, up-to-date account of motor control for students and professionals in the neurosciences, physical and occupational therapy, rehabilitation medicine, and kinesiology.

Average customer rating:

Entry level introduction, but not consistent

Practical Intranet Development
John Colby , Gareth Downes-Powell , Jeffrey Haas , Darren J. Harkness , Frank Pappas , Mike Parsons , Francis Storr , Inigo Surguy , Ruud Voigt , Rudiger Voigt , and Frank C. Pappas
Manufacturer: A-Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1590591690

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You'd think that designing an intranet would be a web professional's heaven. You know exactly what browsers and operating systems your audience are using. You can easily identify users for testing. What could be easier than that? But then, few people ever get to see other companiesí intranets. How can you learn from your peers? Everyone and his dog needs to publish content on an intranet - how do you ensure that content stays current and relevant? How do you ensure that the temp who is uploading situations vacant ads doesnít break it all? Is your intranet accessible? Or do you really need an extranet, for clients and suppliers? How about security? AARGGH! This book helps you frame the questions that you need to ask, sharing best practices from people whoíve lived through the nightmare, and survived to tell you the tale. From the Publisher A well-designed intranet becomes the key resource and communications platform for your organization, used by members of staff as their first destination for information. This book guides you through the steps you need to take to make a useful and usable intranet, from identifying your users' needs and building an indispensable tool, to marketing the results. It guides you through the problems that may occur, passing on invaluable advice from people who have been through the process before.

Customer Reviews:

Entry level introduction, but not consistent.......2007-01-11

This is a book that can potentially help the person responsible for an intranet start-up or redesign. She/he may be internal responsible or external assisting consultant.

Pros:
A quick read; covers a lot of ground; will introduce you to the major issues and challenges in intranet development.
Cons:
For people who have been involved with IT/www projects, this book offers little new; several writers have contributed, and the result is an inconsistent flow with some redundancy; the text will cover so many topics (technology, project management, intranet concepts, extranets, mobile devices, usability, information architecture, and more), that a we never really get in depth.

Who will really benefit from this book:
Students, absolutely newcomers to the field, and those who, as bedtime reading, need a catch-up overview of the field.

Neural Development and Stem Cells (Contemporary Neuroscience)

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Neural Development and Stem Cells (Contemporary Neuroscience)

Manufacturer: Humana Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1588294811

Book Description

This extensively expanded and updated edition reflects the enormous increase in our knowledge of the development of the nervous system. Working from a new understanding that the regionalization of stem cells occurs early in development and that this bias appears to persist even after prolonged culture, Dr. Rao has added additional chapters on olfactory epithelial stem cells and retinal stem cells, both of which differ in their properties from ventricular zone and subventricular zone-derived neural stem cells. A new chapter on cell death summarizes the important changes in the death pathway that occurs as stem cells mature. Special attention is paid to the derivation of neural cells from embryonic stem cells. Authoritative and up-to-date, Neural Development and Stem Cells, Second Edition provides neuroscientists with a handy guide to stem cells in the nervous system, tracing with great clarity the development of stem cells from differentiation to neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes.

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