This book comes out of need and urgency (expressed especially in areas of Information Retrieval with respect to Image, Audio, Internet and Biology) to have a working tool to compare data. The book will provide powerful resource for all researchers using Mathematics as well as for mathematicians themselves. In the time when over-specialization and terminology fences isolate researchers, this Dictionary try to be "centripedal" and "oikoumeni", providing some access and altitude of vision but without taking the route of scientific vulgarisation. This attempted balance is the main philosophy of this Dictionary which defined its structure and style. Key features: - Unicity: it is the first book treating the basic notion of Distance in whole generality. - Interdisciplinarity: this Dictionary is larger in scope than majority of thematic dictionaries. - Encyclopedicity: while an Encyclopedia of Distances seems now too difficult to produce, this book (by its scope, short introductions and organization) provides the main material for it and for future tutorials on some parts of this material. - Applicability: the distances, as well as distance-related notions and paradigms, are provided in ready-to-use fashion. - Worthiness: the need and urgency for such dictionary was great in several huge areas, esp. Information Retrieval, Image Analysis, Speech Recognition and Biology. - Accessibility: the definitions are easy to locate by subject or, in Index, by alphabetic order; the introductions and definitions are reader-friendly and maximally independent one from another; still the text is structured, in the 3D HTML style, by hyperlink-like boldfaced references to similar definitions. * Covers a large range of subjects in pure and applied mathematics * Designed to be easily applied--the distances and distance-related notions and paradigms are ready to use * Helps users quickly locate definitions by subject or in alphabetical order; stand-alone entries include references to other entries and sources for further investigation

Distance metrics and distances have become an essential tool in many areas of pure and applied Mathematics, and this encyclopedia is the first one to treat the subject in full. The book appears just as research intensifies into metric spaces and especially, distance design for applications. These distances are particularly crucial, for example, in computational biology, image analysis, speech recognition, and information retrieval. Here, an assessment of the practical questions arising during selection of a "good'' distance function has been left aside in favor of a comprehensive listing of the main available distances, a useful tool for the distance design community. This reader-friendly reference offers both independent introductions and definitions, while at the same time making cross-referencing easy through hyperlink-like boldfaced references to original definitions. This high-quality publication is a mix of reference resource and coffee-table book.

This updated and revised third edition of the leading reference volume on distance metrics includes new items from very active research areas in the use of distances and metrics such as geometry, graph theory, probability theory and analysis. Among the new topics included are, for example, polyhedral metric space, nearness matrix problems, distances between belief assignments, distance-related animal settings, diamond-cutting distances, natural units of length, Heidegger’s de-severance distance, and brain distances. The publication of this volume coincides with intensifying research efforts into metric spaces and especially distance design for applications. Accurate metrics have become a crucial goal in computational biology, image analysis, speech recognition and information retrieval. Leaving aside the practical questions that arise during the selection of a ‘good’ distance function, this work focuses on providing the research community with an invaluable comprehensive listing of the main available distances. As well as providing standalone introductions and definitions, the encyclopedia facilitates swift cross-referencing with easily navigable bold-faced textual links to core entries. In addition to distances themselves, the authors have collated numerous fascinating curiosities in their Who’s Who of metrics, including distance-related notions and paradigms that enable applied mathematicians in other sectors to deploy research tools that non-specialists justly view as arcane. In expanding access to these techniques, and in many cases enriching the context of distances themselves, this peerless volume is certain to stimulate fresh research.

This updated and revised second edition of the leading reference volume on distance metrics includes a wealth of new material that reflects advances in a developing field now regarded as an essential tool in many areas of pure and applied mathematics. Its publication coincides with intensifying research efforts into metric spaces and especially distance design for applications. Accurate metrics have become a crucial goal in computational biology, image analysis, speech recognition and information retrieval. The content focuses on providing academics with an invaluable comprehensive listing of the main available distances. As well as standalone introductions and definitions, the encyclopedia facilitates swift cross-referencing with easily navigable bold-faced textual links to core entries, and includes a wealth of fascinating curiosities that enable non-specialists to deploy research tools previously viewed as arcane. Its value-added context is certain to open novel avenues of research.