This has been a pretty poor year for books recommended by friends — such as this one! There are some cases where you know what you’re looking for, and you search for it. And that is all that you’ll find. If you wander around aimlessly, you’ll find other interesting stuff that you otherwise wouldn’t have found. I’m not sure what the big deal is!
Okay, I’m being facetious, but honestly, they could have done with much, much, better examples than what they used. Coming up with a figure that looks like a car (to us!!)? Give me a break. And I’ve worked with genetic programming twenty years back, so I’m not a sceptic.