Biological Prototypes and Synthetic Systems: Volume 1 Proceedings of the Second Annual Bionics Symposium sponsored by Cornell University and the General Electric Company, Advanced Electronics C

When the present symposium was first conceived, it was decided that more emphasis be given to contributions from biological laboratories than has typically appeared in previous bionics meetings. Accordingly, most of the invited speakers are biologists, in the broad sense of representing some area of the life sciences. Likewise, many of the submitted papers eventually chosen by the technical com­ mittee were from the life sCiences, rather than the physical sciences or mathe­ matics. In this way, it was hoped that a greater direct interest in the technological problems of bionics might be stimulated among biologists, upon whose work much of the success of bionics necessarily lies. Because of the wide interdisciplinary span of the papers, it was necessary to impose some artificial organization upon them, specifically for continuity in the transactions. We elected to put the biological papers first, followed by those which deal with reasonably specific models, and reserveto the last those papers reporting models which are more general in nature. The editorial function was kept to a minimum, with no major alterations of content and few of style being exercised. Several of the papers delivered at the symposium required a longer format for clarity and are included here in ex­ panded versions. Assitance in the preparation of this volume was received from the National Institute of Neurologic Diseases and Blindness, Grant number B-3896.

Table of Contents:
Bio-Logic.- Evoked Potentials in the Human Visual System.- Neural-Behavioral Interrelationships in Taste.- Bioelectric Patterns as Indicators of Behavioral Development in the Chick Embryo.- Some Observations Indicating the Possibility of Longitudinal Charge-Carrier Flow in the Peripheral Nerves.- Spontaneous Neural Activity.- Bionics and Experimental Epidemiology.- The Development of the Eastern Bluebird’s Vocal Repertoire.- Prey Location in Owls.- The Logic of the Localization of Function in the Central Nervous System.- Ultrasonic Interaction of Bats and Moths.- What is a Synapse?.- Modeling Visual Organs and Perceptions.- Theoretical Analysis of Models for Enzyme Synthesis.- A Neural Model for Labile Sensorimotor Coordinations.- A Model of Visual Space.- Statistical Learning Models for Behavior of an Artificial Organism.- Design of an Analog Ear.- An Electronic Model of the Limulus Eye.- Recognition of the Spoken Word by Machine.- Stabilized Retinal Images and Visual Perception.- Color Vision and a New Approach to General Perception.- Neuromime Modeling of Sensory Pathways.- Activity Levels and Oscillation Modes in Neural Nets.- Associative Storage and Retrieval of Digital Information in Networks of Adaptive “Neurons”.- A Semantically Associative Memory.- Electronic Simulation of the Biological Clock.- Structural, Hydraulic, and “Economic” Aspects of Leaf Venation and Shape.- General Principles of Operations in Neuron Nets with Application to Acoustical Pattern Recognition.- A Model for Hearing.- A Mathematical Model for Visual Perception.- The Survival Value of Sensory Perception.- A Computer Simulation of Pattern Perception and Concept Formation.- An Associative Machine for Dealing with the Visual Field and Some of its Biological Implications.- Evaluationof a Class of Pattern-Recognition Networks.- A Sequential Decision Model for Optimum Recognition.- Machine Interpretation of Radar Displays.- Some Models for Pulse-Interval Modulation Systems.- Quantitative Aspects of the Problem of Shape in Biology.- Design Studies of Conditional Probability Computers.- Bayes Strategies as Adaptive Behavior.- A Self-Organizing Binary Logical Element.- First-Order Experiential Concept Formation.- Kinematic and Tessellation Models of Self-Repair.- Theory of Structurally Homogeneous Logic Nets.- Induction and Logical Types.- Microwatt Transistor Circuits-A Solution to the Heat Problem in Ultralarge Computers.- The Imitation of One Form of Life by Another-Biomimesis.