Artificial Life Models in Software Book

I read this on the advice of Dr. Eiselt, Dean (at that time) of the College of Computing, after asking him via email "alright, I'm taking classes and whatnot, but I want the Stygian deep; I want to go down as far as I can; I want and need to read those books which have shaped the great computer scientists before me, the real thing." Having probed the shelves of computer science and mathematics since, I remain convinced he could have given no better advice to a precocious freshman. Used for several decades at MIT, this second edition is more than thorough enough for an introduction to computer science anywhere. Taught using the Scheme system (with its close bindings to the type-free λ-calculus), this canonical work covers register machines, logic programming, nondeterministic evaluation, the relations of recursion to iteration, and a wealth of carefully-woven-in jewels from number theory and discrete mathematics. Every programmer thinking himself the real deal owes it to himself to read through this grand work, epic in scope and breathtaking in sudden illuminations.