Artificial life, a field that seeks to increase the role of synthesis in the study of biological phenomena, has great potential, both for unlocking the secrets of life and for raising a host of disturbing issues -- scientific and technical as well as philosophical and ethical. This book brings together a series of overview articles that appeared in the first three issues of the groundbreaking journal Artificial Life , along with a new introduction by Christopher Langton, Editor-in-Chief of Artificial Life , founder of the discipline, and Director of the Artificial Life Program at the Santa Fe Institute.

人工生命是一个试图增加合成在生物现象研究中的作用的领域，它具有巨大的潜力，既可以揭开生命的秘密，也可以提出一系列令人不安的问题——科学和技术以及哲学和伦理问题。这本书汇集了一系列发表在开创性杂志《人工生命》前三期的概述文章，以及人工生命主编、该学科创始人、圣达菲研究所人工生命项目主任克里斯托弗·兰顿（Christopher Langton）的最新介绍。