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Is it possible to design robots and other machines that can reproduce and evolve? And, if so, what are the implications: for the machines, for ourselves, for our environment, and for the future of life on Earth and elsewhere?In this book the authors provide a chronological survey and comprehensive archive of the early history of thought about machine self-reproduction and evolution. They discuss contributions from philosophy, science fiction, science and engineering, and uncover many examples that have never been discussed in the Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life literature before now. In the final chapter they provide a synthesis of the concepts discussed, offer their views on the field's future directions, and call for a broad community discussion about the significant implications of intelligent evolving machines.The book will be of interest to general readers, and a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, and historians engaged with ideas in artificial intelligence, artificial life, robotics, and evolutionary computing.

A comprehensive dictionary of environmental economics, compiled by leading academics in the field. Each expression or phrase is explained clearly in non-technical language, with references given to its use in the growing literature on the subject area. From abatement to zonal travel cost method (ZTCM), there are over 1000 cross-referenced entries covering topics such as: environmental instruments for policy-making, techniques applied in environmental and natural resource economics, major issues in environmental economics and environmental management, economics of sustainable development, natural resource accounting, and international environmental agreements. As well as providing incisive answers to questions such as'What is natural capital?'or'when are crowding diseconomies important?', the dictionary includes a list of commonly used acronyms and abbreviations, and a complete bibliography detailing the major texts in the field is provided.