This IMA Volume in Mathematics and its Applications EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHMS is based on the proceedings of a workshop that was an integral part of the 1996-97 IMA program on "MATHEMATICS IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING." I thank Lawrence David Davis (Tica Associates), Kenneth De Jong (Computer Science, George Mason University), Michael D. Vose (Computer Science, The University of Tennessee), and L. Darrell Whitley (Computer Science, Colorado State University) for their excellent work in organizing the workshop and for editing the proceedings. Further appreciation is ex- tended to Donald G....