"In this book we try to describe a new field of knowledge which lies in the borderland between the natural and the synthetic. Natural phenomena have the reputation of being honest, strong and not to be circumvented. Synthetics smack of trickery, "artificial" is a pejorative, and all are viewed with the deep mistrust that we reserve for those things we have ourselves invented. This book also examines the relationship between man and machine and what possibilities these uneasy partners have of ever understanding each other."--Foreword.