By Mark A. Ludwig, 373 Pages, 1993, $26.95 ISBN 0-929408-07-1 Step into the 21st century where the dis-tinction between a living organism and a com-puter program begins to melt away. Will evolution fuel an explosion of computer
vi-ruses? Is a computer virus really alive? Will artificial life research succeed in producing programs that are really alive? Will computer scientists steal the thunder of evolutionary biologists, and turn evolution into a branch of mathematics?
In Computer Viruses, Artificial Life and Evolution, Dr. Ludwig, a physicist by trade, proposes to explore the world of computer viruses, looking at them as a form of artificial life. This is the starting point for an original and thoughtful introduction to the whole question of “What is Life?” Ludwig realizes that no glib answer will do if someone is going to
“come out and say that the virus in your computer is alive, and you should respect it and let it be fruitful and multiply rather than kill it.” So he surveys this very basic question in great depth. He discusses the mechanical requirements for life. Yet he also introduces the reader to the deeper philosophical questions about life, ranging from Aristotle to modern quantum theory and information theory. This tour will leave you with a deeper appreciation of both the certainties and the mysteries about what life is.
Next, Ludwig digs into abiogenesis and evolution. He discusses why viruses are so interesting in this regard, and goes on to show that, even though they are very different from wet biology, computer viruses exhibit many similarities to life as we know it too. The author demonstrates how computer viruses can solve the real world problems they face, like evading virus scanners, by successfully using evolution.
Yet Ludwig doesn’t ignore the difficulties of evolution in the real world. His training as a physical scientist becomes apparent as he relent-lessly seeks hard and fast results from a theory that hasn’t been formulated to produce them. Why shouldn’t a proper theory of evolution give useful predictions in any world we care to apply it to? Viruses or wet biology, it should work for both. Ludwig is pessimistic about what wet biology has produced: “the philosophical commitments of Darwinism seem to be poisoning it from within,” yet he doesn’t run to supernaturalism. Rather, looking forward, he argues that “Artificial life holds the promise of . . . a real theory of evolution . . . . Any theory we formulate ought to explain the whole gamut of worlds, ranging from those which couldn’t evolve anything to those which evolve as much as possible.” But will AL live up to this challenge, or will it become little more than “mathematical
story-a provocstory-ative story-and lucid style.
If you have questions or reservations about artificial life, this book will open new doors for you. If you think you understand evolution or artificial life, this book will challenge you to re-examine it. If you wonder where computer viruses are headed in the coming decades, you can take a peek right here. If you just find viruses fascinating and wonder whether they could be alive, this book will give you unique insights you never imagined!
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Program Disk
Diskette—$15.00
The Program Disk for Computer Viruses, Artificial Life and Evolution contains all of the programs discussed in the book, including the Self-Reproducing Automaton Lab, the Darwinian Genetic Mutation Engine, the Trident Polymorphic Engine, the Intruder-II virus, the Lamark virus, the Scanslip virus and much more!
Airmail Shipping:Canada & Mexico add $2.00, other countries add $3.00
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