Methods and Models in Artificial and Natural Computation. A Homage to Professor Mira's Scientific Legacy

Continuing Professor Mira s Scienti?c Navigation Professor Jos e Mira passed away during the preparation of this edition of the International Work-Conference on the Interplay Between Natural and Arti?cial Computation. As a pioneer in the ?eld of cybernetics, he enthusiastically p- moted interdisciplinary research. The term cybernetics stems from the Greek K?? ???? ?? (kybernetes), which means steersman, governor,or pilot, the same root as government. Cybernetics is a broad ?eld of study, but the essential goal ofcybernetics is to understandandde?ne the functions andprocessesofsystems that have goals, and promote circular, causal chains that move from action to sensing to comparison with a desired goal, and again to action. These de?- tions can be applied to Prof. Mira. He was a leader, a pilot, with a visionary and extraordinary capacity to guide his students and colleagues to the desired objective. In this way he promoted the study and understanding of biological functions for creating new computational paradigms able to solve known pr- lems in a more e?cient way than classical approaches. But he also impressed his magni?cent and generous character on all the researchers and friends that workedwith him, imprinting in all ofus high requirementsof excellence not only as scientists, but also as human beings. Weallrememberhisenthusiasticexplanationaboutthedomainsandlevelsin the computational paradigm(CP).