Introduction to Evolutionary Computing (Natural Computing Series) - Tapa dura

From the reviews:

"This is intended primarily as a textbook for lecturers and graduate and undergraduate students but will certainly attract a wider readership. The authors explain that each of them has many years of teaching experience, and has given instruction on Evolutionary Computing (EC) ... and they realised the need for a suitable textbook and decided to write this one. ... Beside serving as an introduction the book is a guide to the state-of-the art. ... This is a well-produced and very useful book." (Alex M. Andrew, Robotica, Vol. 22, 2004)

The first complete overview of evolutionary computing, the collective name for a range of problem-solving techniques based on principles of biological evolution, such as natural selection and genetic inheritance. The text is aimed directly at lecturers and graduate and undergraduate students. It is also meant for those who wish to apply evolutionary computing to a particular problem or within a given application area. The book contains quick-reference information on the current state-of-the-art in a wide range of related topics, so it is of interest not just to evolutionary computing specialists but to researchers working in other fields.