This book addresses tendencies of human vowel systems from the point of view of self-organization. It uses computer models to show that tendencies of human languages can be reproduced by artificial agents. DeBoer then explores the implications of those results for the evolution of language. Bart de Boer is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Center for Mind, Brain, and Learning at the University of Washington. After completing his Ph.D. in Computer Science at Vrije Universiteit in Brussels, he spent four months carrying out fieldwork on the Bahing language of East Nepal before returning to Vrije as a Postdoctoral Assistant. He took up his current post in December 2000.