This is a collection of classic research papers on the Dempster-Shafer theory of belief functions. The book is the authoritative reference in the field of evidential reasoning and an important archival reference in a wide range of areas including uncertainty reasoning in artificial intelligence and decision making in economics, engineering, and management. The book includes a foreword reflecting the development of the theory in the last forty years.

This book brings together a collection of classic research papers on the Dempster-Shafer theory of belief functions. By bridging fuzzy logic and probabilistic reasoning, the theory of belief functions has become a primary tool for knowledge representation and uncertainty reasoning in expert systems. This book will serve as the authoritative reference in the field of evidential reasoning and an important archival reference in a wide range of areas including uncertainty reasoning in artificial intelligence and decision making in economics, engineering, and management. From over 120 nominated contributions, the editors selected 30 papers, which are widely regarded as classics and will continue to make impacts on the future development of the field. The contributions are grouped into seven sections, including conceptual foundations, theoretical perspectives, theoretical extensions, alternative interpretations, and applications to artificial intelligence, decision-making, and statistical inferences. The book also includes a foreword by Dempster and Shafer reflecting the development of the theory in the last forty years, and an introduction describing the basic elements of the theory and how each paper contributes to the field.