Book excerpt: THE BOOK BRINGS TOGETHER WORK FROM A MULTIDISCIPLINARY CORE OF SCIENTISTS WHO ARE WORKING IN THE FIELD OF UNCONVENTIONAL COMPUTING. THE GOAL WAS TO PROVIDE A COMMON GROUND FOR DIALOG AND INTERACTION, TO HIGHLIGHT THE LATEST ADVANCES, AND TO DISCUSS THE MAIN DIRECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE. TOPICS INCLUDE PROGRAMMING OF CHEMICAL SYSTEMS, EVOLVING LOGICAL GATES IN LIQUID CRYSTAL, IMAGE PROCESSING IN CHEMICAL MEDIA, REACTION-DIFFUSION ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS FOR COMPUTATION AND PATTERN GENERATION, RULE MIGRATION IN CELLULAR AUTOMATA, MULTI-STATE QUANTUM AUTOMATA, DNA COMPUTING OF SHORTEST PATH PROBLEMS, AND ARTIFICIAL CHEMISTRIES. THE PAPERS COLLECTED IN THIS BOOK PROVIDE A GOOD OVERVIEW OF HOT RESEARCH TOPICS IN THE VIBRANT FIELD OF UNCONVENTIONAL COMPUTING.