Digital Biology [Hardcover]

Peter J. Bentley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0743204476 | ISBN-13: 978-0743204477 | Publication Date: February 5, 2002 | Edition: 1st

"Imagine a future world where computers can create universes -- digital environments made from binary ones and zeros. Imagine that within these universes there exist biological forms that reproduce, grow, and think. Imagine plantlike forms, ant colonies, immune systems, and brains, all adapting, evolving, and getting better at solving problems. Imagine if our computers became greenhouses for a new kind of nature. Just think what digital biology could do for us.

Perhaps it could evolve new designs for us, think up ways to detect fraud using digital neurons, or solve scheduling problems with ants. Perhaps it could detect hackers with immune systems or create music from the patterns of growth of digital seashells. Perhaps it would allow our computers to become creative and inventive.

Now stop imagining."

digital biology is an intriguing glimpse into the future of technology by one of the most creative thinkers working in computer science today. As Peter J. Bentley explains, the next giant step in computing technology is already under way as computer scientists attempt to create digital universes that replicate the natural world. Within these digital universes, we will evolve solutions to problems, construct digital brains that can learn and think, and use immune systems to trap and destroy computer viruses.

The biological world is the model for the next generation of computer software. By adapting the principles of biology, computer scientists will make it possible for computers to function as the natural world does. In practical terms, this will mean that we will soon have "smart" devices, such as houses that will keep the temperature as we like it and automobilesthat will start only for drivers they recognize (through voice recognition or other systems) and that will navigate highways safely and with maximum fuel efficiency. Computers will soon be powerful enough and small enough that they can become part of clothing. "Digital agents" will be able to help us find a bank or restaurant in a city that we have never visited before, even as we walk through the airport. Miniature robots may even be incorporated into our bodies to monitor our health.

"Digital Biology" is also an exploration of biology itself from a new perspective. We must understand how nature works in its most intimate detail before we can use these same biological processes inside our computers. Already scientists engaged in this work have gained new insights into the elegant simplicity of the natural universe.

This is a visionary book, written in accessible, nontechnical language, that explains how cutting-edge computer science will shape our world in the coming decades.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Viruses, bugs, bots, ants: the metaphors, language, and realities of the digital world increasingly parallel those of the biological world. This vigorous book shows why those parallels are appropriate, even natural.

By studying the biological world and applying it to cyberspace and by using the natural processes responsible for life within computer systems, evolutionary biologist Peter Bentley writes, "we are overturning all preconceptions of what computers can and cannot do." They can do much, of course. Computers today can grow architectural models from digital "genes," can detect the difference between healthy and malignant cells, can even mimic certain behaviors of living beings. Tucking a handy primer in biological theory among sometimes heady discussions of the digital universe, Bentley focuses closely on the workings of computers today, projecting what might be true of those machines just a few years from now thanks to the workings of evolution--not strictly Darwinian evolution, to be sure, but evolution all the same.

Of interest to a wide range of readers, Bentley's book raises provocative questions as it prowls around inside the "benign cream-colored boxes" that surround us. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly

Though books about technology's effect on nature abound, few titles consider the reverse impact. British research scientist Bentley perhaps recognizing the counterintuitive quality of his argument seems to redouble his efforts to make his point. Sectioned off into chapters with general titles like "Evolution," "Brains" and "Immune Systems," his book is an entertaining look at the ways in which systems of nature are influencing advances in computer research. Bentley contends that "natural and digital biology follow the same processes, just in different universes"; programmers can function as "digital biologists," he says, and make worlds with digital genes, brains, plants and insects. Bentley is at his best when he takes phenomena of the natural world like evolution and shows how they're used in computer programming. He explains, for example, how he programmed his computer to "evolve" a design for a coffee table: the computer created a digital universe in which objects could reproduce; the objects "began life as random blobs," but after hundreds of generations of "continuous evolution" they ended up looking like tables. (He had the best design made and rests his feet on it as he writes.) While the writing is intelligent, well reasoned and good-humored to a fault, once the average reader accepts Bentley's basic premise, the reiteration might deters some from reading on.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st edition (February 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743204476
• ISBN-13: 978-0743204477
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,700,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too basic and not well written, May 25, 2002

By 

Brint Montgomery (Bethany, OK United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Digital Biology (Hardcover)

This book was as primer on how biological structures are being implemented into computer software. The biology sections were generally weak - for example, there are no explanatory diagrams, which I think would have been very helpful to the reader, at least if biology textbooks are trustworthy in their pedagogical methods. Admittedly, there were a few color plates stuck in the middle of the book, but these were more of the gee-whiz variety rather than informative support for the prose. Also Bentley does a lot of name dropping, but does little to specifically outline the projects of those he mentions, sometimes giving merely a paragraph to researchers who are apparently doing "cutting-edge" work in digital biology. Finally, the writing style is inconsistent. Sometimes Bentley writes as if he's a researcher, sometimes as if he's a magazine writer, sometimes as if he's playing short-story fiction writer. This was very distracting. I think the audience that would find this book useful are people who are starting at ground zero in their investigations into computer modeling / implementation of biological structures into computer software. Those with more advanced interests are advised to look elsewhere (cf. Steven Johnson's book on Emergence).

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting!, June 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Digital Biology (Hardcover)

The basic premise of "Digital Biology" is that biological systems (brains, plants, insects, etc) were "designed" in a certain way because there was an inherent advantage to this design. Therefore, if we can understand the principles behind the design, we can take these techniques and use them in our software and hardware.
Many things in nature seem as if they have no reason behind them - however, as the book illustrates, there are certainly valid, good reasons. An example would be neural networks: since our brain uses this instead of hard coded rules and programming, it is much more flexible. It can learn by trial an error the "best" approach, something traditional algorithms cannot do as efficiently. By taking this mechanism we can create very sophisticated - almost intelligent - programs and robots.
There are numerous chapters in "Digital Biology", each dedicated to a specific subject. Each chapter begins by explaining how a specific biology mechanism works (i.e., the chapter on "immune systems" gives a short tutorial on how the body's immune system works). Then, different ways that similar mechanisms are used in artificial applications are demonstrated.
Among the most interesting chapters:

"Evolution", this chapter elaborates on the principles of Evolution and how they can be used in Computation. What are Evolutionary Algorithms ? What are Genetic Algorithms? What is Genetic Programming? Evolvable Hardware, and more.

"Brains" - this chapter was FASCINATING. It started with a short introduction of how we believe brains work, and how these principles can be a foundation for AI and ALIFE: by using Neural Networks.

"Insects"- Insects are interesting because in many ways a group of insects acts as one larger organism. Sometimes many simple organisms can form one fairly intelligent "Creature". There are ways to use these techniques in computation as well, as this chapter shows. (Swarm Intelligence, Boids, etc)

Overall this is a very interesting book. It covers a lot of subjects, yet does NOT go too deeply into any of those - I don't think that was the purpose of the author. My main criticism is the way the book was written - some chapters are very raw, the examples chosen could've been better. (I think my favorite one was where the immune system is being compared to the music industry, and antibodies are compared to boy bands. Probably the strangest analogy I have read in my life). I also think that there was too much emphasis on real biology, especially since in many subjects there was no analogy in digital biology. Nonetheless, if the idea of using biological mechanisms in software or hardware appeals to you, this should serve as a fascinating introduction.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Computers / Life and Life / Computers, March 27, 2002

By 

R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Digital Biology (Hardcover)

There are so many "revolutionary" developments in science, and especially in computer science, that it is hard to keep track of them all, and hard feel that they can all be as revolutionary as they claim to be. You have to suspect, though, that if Peter J. Bentley is claiming a revolution, then something wonderful is happening; he is a scientist in the very field of computers, not a reporter, and so his book _Digital Biology: How Nature is Transforming Our Technology and Our Lives_ (Simon & Schuster) is that excellent form of popular science writing, enthusiastic witnessing from an expert in the field. It is obvious that he loves his work, and that it has far-ranging implications, but it is even better that he can communicate the enthusiasm and let the reader share in it.

Digital biology represents a remarkable two way street. Natural processes such as evolution or ant colony behavior can be modeled within a computer to build stronger problem-solving tools. In turn, computer programs can illuminate aspects of behavior of systems large and small in nature, showing just how physics, genes, and evolution have accomplished the complexities we see around us. The best part of Bentley's book is that he has plenty of examples of how these ideas are already at work. Consider what seems to be an inescapable metaphor for brains and for computers, the ant colony. Ants are themselves, like all other insects, tiny robots able to take in small degrees of data and perform small feats of manipulation. One ant is a very limited creature indeed. (Are you getting the analogy? One neuron, too, is practically useless as is one flip-flop gate.) But a mass of ants in a colony starts to show real intelligence. Put a little food out a distance from the colony, and by laying pheromone trails, and following the stronger trails, the huge numbers of ants will in effect calculate the shortest, most efficient way of getting back and forth to it. Making digitally simulated "ants" and electronic "pheromone trails" is already solving difficult problems; "Ant Colony Optimization" is already a respected field in computer science. It has been used to solve the otherwise almost intractable classic Traveling Salesman Problem: A salesman has to get to many different cities on his rounds; what is the most efficient route? Solving this problem took too long for even the fastest of ordinary computers, but letting the digital ants go at it works. It isn't just a matter of solving puzzles, either; such optimization programs are already being applied to communication network routing and electronic circuit design.

In some ways this book is a primer on evolution of different types, and while some fundamentalists continue to make religious objections to evolution in nature, it is obvious from the examples Bentley gives that evolution really does happen in many ways separate from our world of DNA creatures. Bentley draws from examples in many disciplines, and is interested in finding commonalities between them. He demonstrates that from DNA to ants to brains to growth to programming code to evolution to universes, complexity is generated by interactions of similar things, controlled by feedback, and subject to change from the outside. This pattern is more important than the stuff the system is made of. This has not quite the clear universal ring of a Newtonian law, perhaps, but it is certainly an illustrative pattern which is played at all sorts of levels. To Bentley, the pattern is so much more important that the stuff which shows it that he sees no basic difference between biological life and life within a computer. His quickly paced, entertaining book is a good introduction to one of the new ways computers are changing how we look at everything.