ABSTRACT
Abstract In Section 1 we review various models of self-reproducing automata which share with life the property of repetitive production of ordered heterogeneity. In Section 2 we note that these systems also share with living systems a dependence on a separate stable description of the reproducing organism, and we discuss a number of reasons why this condition may be necessary in more complex organisms. In Part 3 we face up to the fact that our automata are extremely prone to large malfunction as a result of small damage, and make a first step towards rectifying this deficiency by exhibiting an automaton model of a worm which, upon being damaged, will readjust its composition so that the front third is head. the next third is body, and the final third is tail. Part 4 concludes the paper with a brief discussion of how our model may be extended to deal with problems of evolution.
