Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems ─ An Introductory Analysis With Applications to Biology, Control, and Artificial Intelligence

Genetic algorithms are playing an increasingly important role in studies of complexadaptive systems, ranging from adaptive agents in economic theory to the use of machine learningtechniques in the design of complex devices such as aircraft turbines and integrated circuits.Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems is the book that initiated this field of study,presenting the theoretical foundations and exploring applications.In its most familiar form,adaptation is a biological process, whereby organisms evolve by rearranging genetic material tosurvive in environments confronting them. In this now classic work, Holland presents a mathematicalmodel that allows for the nonlinearity of such complex interactions. He demonstrates the model'suniversality by applying it to economics, physiological psychology, game theory, and artificialintelligence and then outlines the way in which this approach modifies the traditional views ofmathematical genetics.Initially applying his concepts to simply defined artificial systems withlimited numbers of parameters, Holland goes on to explore their use in the study of a wide range ofcomplex, naturally occuring processes, concentrating on systems having multiple factors thatinteract in nonlinear ways. Along the way he accounts for major effects of coadaptation andcoevolution: the emergence of building blocks, or schemata, that are recombined and passed on tosucceeding generations to provide, innovations and improvements.John H. Holland is Professor ofPsychology and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University ofMichigan. He is also Maxwell Professor at the Santa Fe Institute and is Director of the Universityof Michigan/Santa Fe Institute Advanced Research Program.

John H. Holland is Professor of Psychology and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan. He is also Maxwell Professor at the Santa Fe Institute and is Director of the University of Michigan/Santa Fe Institute Advanced Research Program.