Fuzzy theory in analytical chemistry

The concept of fuzzy theory is described in order to provide the analyst with the means for dealing with vague statements, uncertain observations or the fuzziness of human perception and interpretation, in general. In a theoretical part, basic notions of fuzzy theory are given, such as types of membership functions, operations with fuzzy sets, definitions of fuzzy numbers, points, functions, and relations, and the use of linguistic variables. The difference between fuzziness and probability is outlined. The applications section demonstrates advantages of fuzzy theory methods compared to common mathematical methods with respect to data handling for calibration of analytical methods, to classification of Chromatographie and spectroscopic patterns, to component identification and multicomponent analysis, and to designing fuzzy expert systems for selection of analytical procedures.