Artificial Worlds

Computers, Complexity And The Riddle Of Life

By: Richard Morris

Write A Review

Paperback | 1 January 2003 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
208 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.59 x 14.61 x 1.27

Paperback

$42.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $10.69 with

or

Ships in 10 to 15 business days

In their laboratories, complexity scientists have been experimenting with complex chemicals that display some of the characteristics of life, and have created electronic computer-virus-like life-forms that are born, die, reproduce, mutate, and evolve. Through these artificial worlds they have actually been able to monitor evolution as it happens, since it takes place at a much more rapid pace within a computer - where new species can evolve in as little as an hour. Among the phenomena that these scientists hope to observe are the evolution of multicellular life forms, and possibly even the evolution of electronic intelligence. Could it be that life itself is an emergent property that arises spontaneously when a chemical system attains a certain degree of complexity? At the cutting edge of discovery, this exciting new branch of science has fostered a rare and intriguing dialogue between innovators across a broad range of disciplines, from mathematicians, computer scientists, and economists, to anthropologists and biologists. Richard Morris makes this major field of inquiry accessible to a popular readership as never before, while he reveals its potential to solve the greatest of all questions to puzzle humankind - what is life?

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

More in Science in General

Dad Brain

The New Science of Fatherhood and How it Shapes Men's Lives

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$26.99

27%
OFF

Open When . . .

A Companion for Life's Twists & Turns

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$19.99

26%
OFF

The 21st Century Brain

Cutting edge neuroscience to help us navigate the future

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF

SIGNED COPY

The Energy Game

A Science-backed System to Recharge Without Pressing Pause on Life

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$26.99

27%
OFF

A Bird's IQ

innovation, intelligence, and problem-solving in the avian world

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$28.75

22%
OFF

Togetherness

Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF

Traversal

Hardcover

RRP $65.00

$48.99

25%
OFF

The First Astronomers

How Indigenous Elders read the stars

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$28.75

18%
OFF

The Shortest History of Reality

Paperback

RRP $27.99

$23.75

15%
OFF

Excel Essential Skills: Science Revision Workbook - Year 8

Excel Essential Skills Ser.

Paperback

RRP $21.95

$18.75

15%
OFF

The Brain That Changes Itself

Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

Paperback

RRP $35.00

$28.75

18%
OFF

The Body Keeps The Score

Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$19.99

26%
OFF

Behave

The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF

Breath

The New Science of a Lost Art

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$20.75

23%
OFF

The Body

A Guide for Occupants

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF

Humble Pi

A Comedy of Maths Errors

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF

Bullshit Jobs

A Theory

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF

How To Change Your Mind

New Science of Psychedelics

Paperback

RRP $32.99

$26.99

18%
OFF

What If?

Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Paperback

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF

Sapiens

A Graphic History: Volume 1

Hardcover

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF

Technofeudalism

What Killed Capitalism

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$21.99

19%
OFF

Four Thousand Weeks

Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count.

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$20.75

23%
OFF

The Return of the God Hypothesis

Three Scientific Discoveries Revealing the Mind Behind the Universe

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF

Stolen Focus

Why You Can't Pay Attention

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF

Preface	p. ix
What Is Life?	p. 1
What Is Life?	p. 4
Complexity versus Reduction, or What Happens when You Pull the Plug in the Bathtub	p. 7
What Is Complexity?	p. 11
Compute, Compute, Compute	p. 12
The Origin of Life	p. 15
Life in a Computer	p. 16
Complexity in the Laboratory	p. 17
New Horizons or Empty Promises?	p. 18
Laws of Complexity	p. 20
Creating Life in the Laboratory	p. 21
The Origin of Life	p. 22
Is Creating Life Really That Easy?	p. 24
Which Came First: RNA or Proteins?	p. 27
Creating Life	p. 29
Synthetic Life	p. 34
Two Outlooks on the Origin of Life	p. 37
Self-Replicating Proteins	p. 38
The Evolution of Complexity	p. 43
Defining Complexity	p. 46
The Cambrian Explosion	p. 50
The Burgess Shale	p. 51
The Permian Extinction	p. 54
Disparity versus Diversity	p. 55
Can the Sciences of Complexity Study the Emergence of Complexity?	p. 61
Fitness Landscapes	p. 63
Natural Selection	p. 65
The Problem of Heredity	p. 67
Mendel's Peas	p. 69
Genetics versus Natural Selection	p. 70
Is Natural Selection Everything?	p. 71
Darwin's Dangerous Idea	p. 74
A Real Muddle	p. 76
Fitness Landscapes	p. 77
A Throne Covered with Crocodile Skin	p. 81
Artificial Life	p. 85
Paleontologists versus Geneticists	p. 88
Don't Bother the Grownups	p. 90
Gould's Snails	p. 91
Revolutionary Theory or Minor Correction?	p. 92
Life inside a Computer	p. 95
Two Kinds of Evolution	p. 97
The Evolution of Complexity (Again)	p. 98
Is Artificial Life Really "Life"?	p. 101
Is Natural Selection the Whole Story?	p. 103
Cosmic Evolution and Biological Evolution	p. 104
A Short History of the Universe	p. 105
What about Biological Evolution?	p. 108
Back to Biology Again	p. 110
But What Does It Have to Do with Reality?	p. 114
A Little Organism with a Big Name	p. 117
Philosophical Differences	p. 119
Artificial Life on the Internet	p. 123
Tierra	p. 124
And What Does All This Have to Do with Evolution?	p. 127
Sex	p. 129
Problems, Problems	p. 131
The Evolution of Complexity	p. 133
Intelligent Electronic Life	p. 135
Two Biodiversity Reserves	p. 137
Sons of Tierra	p. 138
Varieties of Artificial Life	p. 140
Swarm	p. 141
"SSWOOORMM"	p. 144
Swarms	p. 147
Research Using Swarm	p. 150
Swarm and Archaeology	p. 152
But What Does All This Have to Do with Life?	p. 154
The Fate of Creative Scientists	p. 156
The Promise of Complexity	p. 157
Scientific Success	p. 158
Controversy	p. 160
Artificial Life as Philosophy	p. 164
A Strange Kind of Science	p. 166
Bibliography	p. 171
World Wide Web Resources	p. 179
Index	p. 187
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.

Artificial Worlds

Computers, Complexity And The Riddle Of Life

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Science in General

Dad Brain

The New Science of Fatherhood and How it Shapes Men's Lives

Open When . . .

A Companion for Life's Twists & Turns

The 21st Century Brain

Cutting edge neuroscience to help us navigate the future

The Energy Game

A Science-backed System to Recharge Without Pressing Pause on Life

A Bird's IQ

innovation, intelligence, and problem-solving in the avian world

Togetherness

Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations

Traversal

The First Astronomers

How Indigenous Elders read the stars

The Shortest History of Reality

Excel Essential Skills: Science Revision Workbook - Year 8

Excel Essential Skills Ser.

The Brain That Changes Itself

Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

The Body Keeps The Score

Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma

Behave

The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Breath

The New Science of a Lost Art

The Body

A Guide for Occupants

Humble Pi

A Comedy of Maths Errors

Bullshit Jobs

A Theory

How To Change Your Mind

New Science of Psychedelics

What If?

Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Sapiens

A Graphic History: Volume 1

Technofeudalism

What Killed Capitalism

Four Thousand Weeks

Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count.

The Return of the God Hypothesis

Three Scientific Discoveries Revealing the Mind Behind the Universe

Stolen Focus

Why You Can't Pay Attention

This product is categorised by