Darwin Among The Machines: The Evolution Of Global Intelligence (Helix Books) First Trade Paper Edition Edition

by George B. Dyson (Author)

29 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0738200309

ISBN-10: 0738200301

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

George B. Dyson was born in 1953, the year that Nils Barricelli first used John von Neumanns electronic computer at the Institute for Advanced Study, where Dyson spent his childhood, to perform experiments with artificial evolution and artificial life. He has been keeping watch on the relationship between nature and technology ever since.

Product details

Series: Helix Books
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; First Trade Paper Edition edition (October 8, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0738200301
ISBN-13: 978-0738200309
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 29 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,795,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #931 in Books > Textbooks > Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence
- #1126 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering > Mechanical > Machinery
- #2305 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > AI & Machine Learning > Intelligence & Semantics

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Vladimir Zuzukin

and a terrific one at that

January 3, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Mind-blowing work. Seriously. I read "Turing's Cathedral" first and expected this 15 year earlier work by George Dyson to be of lesser quality. I was thoroughly surprised with his treatment of the subject, especially in the late 1990's. To be fair, they are very different books written with different intent. "Turing's Cathedral" is a very thorough historical account of the IAS, Manhattan Project, and all the work involving early von Neumann machines. It was entertaining and thought-provoking, but ultimately a retrospective as a true historical account. "Darwin Among the Machines" is a forward-thinking work, and a terrific one at that. It begins slow as it gives all the necessary background material in the same manner as James Gleick's "The Information." Having already read "The Information" and other similar works chronicling the development of modern information theory, I was resolved to rate this 3/5 stars and behind Gleick's book (though to be fair it predates "The Information" by over 10 years). However, it really opens up around Chapter 9 (Game Theory) and boldly goes where no other book on evolution and/or information theory has gone before or since - tackling intelligence (natural, artificial, and invisible), economics, evolution, and technology in a master stroke. The last 1/3 of the book is simply inspiring in its concepts, and you realize that the longer first part of "known" background material is really there to set up the real topic at hand. It is the better of Dyson's two major books and ironically the more modern one (by far). I consider it as profound as Richard Dawkin's "The Selfish Gene" in turning an old subject completely around on its head. Well done!

6 people found this helpful7 people found this helpful

Nice Romp Through Digitial History

March 26, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book is a great collection of history around the evolution of computers and artificial life. It reminds me of the 1970s BBC-produced "Connections" series that aired on PBS years ago. The show illustrated how modern inventions had their roots in centuries-old technology, and traced their path from the early inventions through various iterations up to the modern solution.

Each chapter takes a single topic and starts back in time when it was the germ of an idea in someone's writings and carries it forward into the 1990's. This is not a technical book nor a book about computer science. It is more about the field of artificial life or perhaps artificial intelligence and brings the threads of evolution, encoding, hardware, software, networking, and other topics under a common theme. I picked it up because of a recent interest in the work of Nils A. Barricelli and was not disappointed in this regarded. I understand the other reviewers that were disappointed in the lack of technical detail, though I really don't think this is the aim of the book.

My one complaint is that Dyson does get his details wrong at times. For example, when discussing Ray's Tierra system he implies that all digital creatures were 80 instructions long, which is not true. This makes me wonder what other details he may have off as well. I read the book as more of a broad swath of history, in which the flow of time and growth of the idea is the focus and theme. The book is extremely well notated and has sparked my interest to look up the original works behind a few areas of discussion. Like many writer's in the 1990s, Dyson expected big results in artificial life over the coming years which did not come to pass. However, as a comprehensive history of the fields behind Alife this is well worth a visit.

4 people found this helpful5 people found this helpful

Not Quite Focused

May 27, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Since Dyson likes metaphors and analogies, I guess I will use one or two for my review. Reading the book was like eating a plate of spaghetti and meatballs: pasta for carb loading, meatballs for substance, and sauce for spicing things up. With a green salad thrown in, it would have made a tasty meal with more value. Translating my analogy, the spaghetti was the many stories told from the history of information technology, squirming around on the plate. The meatballs were the themes, compact and separate, and the sauce was the literary references. The structure of the book was much more like the flowing of a river than the design of a building. In the end, the river seems to flow into the ocean; seep into the ground; and evaporate into the air. It is up to the reader to draw off some of the water to put to work. My review may suffer from the same weaknesses, so be sure to read others. I don't like it when others based their ratings on media, but have to say that the print was too small.

One person found this helpful

Eduardo Luis Salinas

thought provoking, though confusing

August 4, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Someone I admire reccomended me this book. The author does a good job on explaining why he thinks that machines will become intelligent beings, by making analogies between evolution and how technology has improved over time. However, be prepared to see the name of many philosophers and many important names tat you may not know. The author makes some assumptions about the target audience, in which I have to say, not everyone will enjoy this book, since it can become a difficult reading.

One person found this helpful2 people found this helpful

Good Historical References

May 1, 2001

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Another good read on the origins of modern computer science. Some interesting stories of Babbage, Hollerith and Van Neumann. I particularly enjoyed Babbage's human computers.
A great read while kicking back at the beach.

3 people found this helpful4 people found this helpful

Gustavo Guinand

February 21, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Item arrive on time

One person found this helpful

An intellectual tour de force

November 24, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

An intellectual tour de force from a rare and extremely valuable perspective. Dyson is brilliant and his brilliance shines through every page of Darwin Among the Machines.

One person found this helpful2 people found this helpful

October 10, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A nice intro to Butlerian perspective.

One person found this helpful2 people found this helpful

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