Imitation of Life: How Biology Is Inspiring Computing

By Nancy Forbes and Nancy Forbes

Book Overview

How scientists are using nature as model and metaphor to reinvent computing: a survey of an emerging field.

As computers and the tasks they perform become increasingly complex, researchers are looking to nature--as model and as metaphor--for inspiration. The organization and behavior of biological organisms present scientists with an invitation to reinvent computing for the complex tasks of the future. In Imitation of Life, Nancy Forbes surveys the emerging field of biologically inspired computing, looking at some of the most impressive and influential examples of this fertile synergy.

Forbes points out that the influence of biology on computing goes back to the early days of computer science--John von Neumann, the architect of the first digital computer, used the human brain as the model for his design. Inspired by von Neumann and other early visionaries, as well as by her work on the "Ultrascale Computing" project at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Forbes describes the exciting potential of these revolutionary new technologies. She identifies three strains of biologically inspired computing: the use of biology as a metaphor or inspiration for the development of algorithms; the construction of information processing systems that use biological materials or are modeled on biological processes, or both; and the effort to understand how biological organisms "compute," or process information.

Forbes then shows us how current researchers are using these approaches. In successive chapters, she looks at artificial neural networks; evolutionary and genetic algorithms, which search for the "fittest" among a generation of solutions; cellular automata; artificial life--not just a simulation, but "alive" in the internal ecosystem of the computer; DNA computation, which uses the encoding capability of DNA to devise algorithms; self-assembly and its potential use in nanotechnology; amorphous computing, modeled on the kind of cooperation seen in a colony of cells or a swarm of bees; computer immune systems; bio-hardware and how bioelectronics compares to silicon; and the "computational" properties of cells.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262062410
• ISBN13: 9780262062411
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Does it cover the Enteprise Software?

No, it doesn't. The author is a gifted technical analyst, working for Government Agencies. The text teaches what is the "bio-inspired" computation in high level research at universities and research agencies As commercial software coverage, the mention of RSA In. for encription software, IBM and SAP DNA algorithms One of the most stringent needs is to apply learning algorithms in Enterprise Computing. Huge data centers must have policies decided by humans, designed for autonomic self-healing. The theory of change management claims new idea in business - enterprise software is nothing but a reflection of the business idea - is a seed that must grow naturally. The use of bio-inspired , self-evolutionary software code would be not only a great fit, but a commercial success. The market for such software is every business that operates a data center and/or a compute grid. As I work in creating enterprise software products, I bought the book with great expectations. This explains my probably biased disappontment with an otherwise a good book that opens the gates of new possibilities. There is an Enterprise Biology Software Project ongoing http://www.enterprisebiology.com/report_2004.htm . It's mere existence and name illustrates the need described in this review.