ABSTRACT The genetic algorithm resembles the terminology of a B-series science fiction film. What is a genetic algorithm? Is he human? Is it a computer? Is he alive? Is he the mutant child of some defunct government experiment? All these questions, and more, will be answered in the pages of this article. The adventure will begin with a journey back in time to the roots of genetic algorithms. From there the journey will continue to the inventor, or the father of genetic algorithms, Dr. John H. Holland of the University of Michigan. Finally, moving forward in time, covering a span of over twenty years from the birth of the genetic algorithm to its current representations and applications, the terminology and concepts underlying these algorithms will be explored. INTRODUCTION “God… created a series of possibilities in case some of His prototypes failed: this is the meaning of evolution.” Graham Greene (1904-91), British novelist. Visconti, in Traveling with my aunt, pt. 2, chap. 7 (1969).Nature is all around us. We see it every day and we are also part of it. It is so simple, yet so complex and over thousands of years it has changed to adapt to its environment. This process of change is called evolution. It is not a process of which we are overtly aware, yet we are the product of it. It can be said that the process of evolution is a process of adaptation. Adaptation is the part of evolution that has fascinated computer scientists since the beginning of the computer age. In the 1960s the adaptation process intrigued John Holland. This intrigue led him to study it formally. He believed that somehow this process, or the mechanics of this process, could be captured in a computer. He… halfway through the article… it's interesting to see where genetic algorithms will appear and how they have been applied to that application. BIBLIOGRAPHY1. Chambers, Lance, "Practical Handbook of Genetic Algorithms, Applications Vol. 1" (New York, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1991), preface.2. Davis, Lawrence, "Handbook of Genetic Algorithms", (New York, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1991), pp. 1 - 101.3. Everett, J.E., “Model Building, Model Testing, and Model Fitting,” Practical Handbook of Genetic Algorithms, Applications Vol. 1, (Boca Raton New York: CRC Press, 1995), pp. 6 - 30.4. Mitchell, Melanie, “An Introduction to Genetic Algorithms,” (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1996).5. Michalewicz, Zbigniew, "Genetic Algorithms + Data Structures = Evolution Programs, Second Extended Edition" (Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer-Verlag, 1994), pp.. 1 - 91.