This is the first textbook to be explicitly designed for use as a course text for an undergraduate/graduate course on multi-agent systems. Assuming only a basic understanding of computer science, this text provides an introduction to all the main issues in the theory and practice of intelligent agents and multi-agent systems. * The companion Web Site includes sample exercises, lecture slidest and hyperlinks to software referred to in the book * Introduces agents, explains what agents are, how they are constructed and how they can be made to co-operate effectively with one another in large-scale systems * Introduces the main issues surrounding the design of intelligent agents * Introduces a number of typical applications for agent technology