Artificial Life
Artificial Life by Steven Levyby Steven Levy
Shares rank 33 of 50 popular science books by recommenders
Recommended for its lasting impact on readers, with one reader calling it a formative experience they first read as a teenager.
Recommended for its lasting impact on readers, with one reader calling it a formative experience they first read as a teenager.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Had a lasting personal impact
“Levy's book had a huge impact on me in general.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “The universal weight subspace hypothesis” Captivated readers as a teenager
“I was captivated when I read about it, as a teenager”
Comment from 19 Jul 2026 in “Co-evolution of self-replication and function in a digital primordial soup” A deeply moving experience for readers
“ended up being my first and only religious experience”
Comment from 3 Sep 2026 in “Wendell Berry has died”
Other popular science books people recommend
The four most recommended other popular science books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gödel, Escher, Bachby Douglas Hofstadter | 47 | 10 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Thinking, Fast and Slowby Daniel Kahneman | 17 | 13 | 57% | 9 | — | — |
| Thinking in Systemsby Donella Meadows | 17 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Selfish Geneby Richard Dawkins | 14 | 5 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Artificial Lifeby Steven LevyThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“ended up being my first and only religious experience”
“I was captivated when I read about it, as a teenager”
“Levy's book had a huge impact on me in general.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.