Artificial Life

"In September 1987, the first workshop on Artificial Life was held at the LosAlamos National Laboratory. Jointly sponsored by the Center for Nonlinear Studies,the Santa Fe Institute, and Apple Computer Inc, the workshop brought together160 computer scientists, biologists, physicists, anthropologists, and other assorted""-ists,"" all of whom shared a common interest in the simulation and synthesis ofliving systems. During five intense days, we saw a wide variety of models of livingsystems, including mathematical models for the origin of life, self-reproducingautomata, computer programs using the mechanisms of Darwinian evolution to produceco-adapted ecosystems, simulations of flocking birds and schooling fish, thegrowth and development of artificial plants, and much, much moreThe workshop itself grew out of my frustration with the fragmented natureof the literature on biological modeling and simulation. For years I had prowledaround libraries, shifted through computer-search results, and haunted bookstores,trying to get an overview of a field which I sensed existed but which did not seemto have any coherence or unity. Instead, I literally kept stumbling over interestingwork almost by accident, often published in obscure journals if published at all."