Artificial Life

``A-life'' research--the creation of artificial systems with natural behavioral traits of their own--has preoccupied computer theorists since the 1950s. The theory of automata--self-regulating computer programs--is all but inherent in computing, and the last 10 years have brought artificial intelligence to the verge of becoming a real algorithmic sorcerer's apprentice. Science reporter Levy ( Hackers ) writes for readers with extensive interdisciplinary backgrounds in science, although he includes such popular sensations as an artificially ``live'' foot-long robot cockroach. But his focus, and the real excitement of his subject, remains in looking over the conceptual edge that A-life research defines, where the science is not only original, but perhaps more original than we know. (June)