ThisbookisanoutgrowthofdataminingcoursesatRPIandUFMG;theRPIcoursehasbeenofferedeveryFallsince1998,whereastheUFMGcoursehasbeenofferedsince2002.Whilethereareseveralgoodbooksondataminingandrelatedtopics,wefeltthatmanyofthemareeithertoohigh-levelortooadvanced.Ourgoalwastowritea