The Serendipity Machine helps us make sense of recent developments in information technolgy. It explains how innovations such as data mining and evolutionary computing deal with complexity by exploiting serendipity. It looks at possibilities raised by new technologies of personal agents and virtual communities. And it examines the growing influence of computers in new fields including biotechnology, environmental management and electronic commerce." "It also reveals surprising connections between computing and everyday life. What do handbags, platypuses and traffic congestion have to do with computing? Why is computing becoming more and more like electricity supply? And why do computer scientists increasingly look to nature for inspiration?" "The Serendipity Machine is a trek through the new worlds of information technology with plenty of chance discovery on the way.