Artificial life: Random walk Mietek Szyszkowicz Author

In the year 1827, the Scottish botanist Robert Brown investigated through his microscope the movements of pollen grains immersed in water. Brown tried different kinds of particles taken from dried plants and they all moved when suspended in water. He suspected that the pollen grains were moving because they were alive. Brown also investigated particles that had never been part of anything living, such as dust from rocks – they all moved suspended in water. This motion, named after Brown, the Brownian motion, is caused by randomly moving water molecules that bounce with pollen grains. This microscopic motion of tiny particles has nothing to do with life, although the process simulates one of life’s affirmation - movement. Thus the Brownian motion may be seen as the first artificial life experiment.