The work on which the content of this book is centred took
place over more than a decade. It started， in the middle fifties，
with the construction of adaptive training machines， with super-
flcla!ly disconnected studies of chemical computing systems，
ai~d. towards 1960， with experiments on machine-monitored
small gToup inter-action. Since that period an underlying theory
has emerged from a gaggle of prescient concepts. It owes a great
deal of its present shape to the ideation and criticism of friends
and colleagues， only some of whom can be mentioned directly~
First of all， it is noteworthy that parallel work has gone on in
two places; my own laboratory at System Research Ltzl and in
tteinz Von Foerster s Biological Computer laboratory， at the
University of Illinois. Both endeavours were encouraged by
Warren McCulloch; the reader will detect the influence of his
ideas and guidance appearing repeatedly throughout the discus-
sion. Apart from this， the parNlel development was not specially
contrived and it was sustained by irregular personal liason.
t]ence， it is gTatifying to find that recent publications from the
Biological Computer Laboratory image our own conclusions，
differing， chiefly， in the notation employed and the area of
application. People familiar with the field will probably find the
threads of mutualism quite obvious; for the benefit of others， a
few of these threads are picked out. For example， Loefgren
worked with Von Foerster whilst refining the formalism on
which the currently-used type of abstract reproductive and
evolutionary process is founded; Matturana (whose theory of
autopoietic systems is the analogue， in a biologist s mind， for
certain stable cognitive organisations in the present theory)
worked there as well; Matturana s theory is to appear m a
subsequent monograph in this series. Both Ashby， the system
theorist， and Gunther， the philosopher， taught and researched
with Von Foerster; much of the present theory hinges upon
their ideas.
On home ground， the theory， and the experiments as well，
owe a great deal to two colleagues of long standing: Brian Lewis
and Bernard Scott. Prof. Lewis m~d I shared a common interest
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