Genetic Algorithm - Introduction • The genetic algorithm is a method for solving optimization problems that mimic some of the processes observed in natural evolution. • Genetic algorithms in particular became popular through the work of John Holland in the early 1970s, and particularly his book Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems (1975). • GA is based on ideas from Darwinian Evolution theory of “Survival of the fittest”. • The genetic algorithm repeatedly modifies a population of individual solutions. • At each step, the genetic algorithm selects individuals at random from the current population to be parents and uses them to produce the children for the next generation. Over successive generations, the population "evolves" toward an optimal solution. • ...