[comp.ai.neural-nets] Request for reviews: Neural Darwinism & The Remembered Present

kerce@nu.cs.fsu.edu (Kingsley F. Kerce) (05/25/90)

I'm currently scanning the literature for ANN/GA/evolutionary system
hybrids.  Glancing through G. Edelman's _Neural Darwinism_ revealed
text that may take a while to absorb.  I'd be grateful if anyone could
provide a brief synopsis of Edelman's theories and results so that I
may judge the worth of investing precious reading time.

Thanks,
--
Kingsley Kerce             USnail: Dept. of Computer Sci. (or Dept. of Psych.)
Email: kerce@nu.cs.fsu.edu         Florida State University
Work Phone: (904) 644-5436         Tallahassee, FL  32306

martin@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (david l. martin) (05/31/90)

In article <KERCE.90May24220154@nu.cs.fsu.edu> kerce@nu.cs.fsu.edu (Kingsley F. Kerce) writes:
>I'm currently scanning the literature for ANN/GA/evolutionary system
>hybrids.  Glancing through G. Edelman's _Neural Darwinism_ revealed
>text that may take a while to absorb.  I'd be grateful if anyone could
>provide a brief synopsis of Edelman's theories and results so that I
>may judge the worth of investing precious reading time.

Recently there was has been some discussion of Edelman's works on comp.ai.
Steve Smoliar was kind enough to point us to a review he wrote of
_Neural Darwinism_, which does give an overview and helps to provide some
perspective on Edelman's theories.  I found the review to be quite helpful.
It's in AI magazine, May 1989, v. 39 #1.

I would also be interested in hearing of other synopses or reviews of
Edelman's work, including his most recent book _Consciousness: The Remembered 
Present_.

David Martin
U.C.L.A.

wcalvin@milton.acs.washington.edu (William Calvin) (06/01/90)

I did the review of Edelman's NEURAL DARWINISM which appeared in
SCIENCE on 26 June 1988.  Takes twice as long to read as it ought
to, but it is an important book for anyone interested in the
development of nervous systems, how they self-organize, how experience
can shape up committees.  But Darwinism it isn't (in the examples he
gives) as there is only a initial injection of randomness (initial
conditions) rather than the back-and-forth "Darwinian Two-Step" dance
of randomness-then-shaping, randomness-then-shaping some more, etc.
  William H. Calvin
  Univ. of Washington      wcalvin@well.sf.ca.us
  Biology NJ-15         wcalvin@u.washington.edu
  Seattle WA 98195    206/328-1192  206/543-1648

kerce@nu.cs.fsu.edu (Kingsley F. Kerce) (06/01/90)

In article <35821@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> martin@oahu.cs.ucla.edu
(david l. martin) writes:

   >Recently there was has been some discussion of Edelman's works on comp.ai.
   >Steve Smoliar was kind enough to point us to a review he wrote of
   >_Neural Darwinism_, which does give an overview and helps to provide some
   >perspective on Edelman's theories.  I found the review to be quite helpful.
   >It's in AI magazine, May 1989, v. 39 #1.

   >David Martin
   >U.C.L.A.

Just a quick note to stifle confusion...the AI magazine aforementioned
is _not_ the one published by the AAAI.  The AI publication in which
the review did appear is simply named Artificial Intelligence (a
journal, perhaps?).

I will soon post a summary of responses to my query.
--
Kingsley Kerce             USnail: Dept. of Computer Sci. (or Dept. of Psych.)
Email: kerce@nu.cs.fsu.edu         Florida State University
Work Phone: (904) 644-5436         Tallahassee, FL  32306

eliot@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Eliot Handelman) (06/06/90)

There is an excellent review of ND -- actually an exegesis -- by Francis Crick,
appearing in "Trends in Neuroscience," Vol. 12, No. 7, 1989, pp. 240-247.

--eliot