Prefacing his volume with "An Open Letter to the Intelligent Machines of the Future," it is clear where Hall (a research fellow for the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing) thinks the field of artificial intelligence is going. In addition to providing an optimistic prediction of the field's directions and some musings on the philosophical and ethical implications of such a development, he also offers a general audience an explanation of the broad scientific contours of artificial intelligence's historical development. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)