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===The Book of the Machines===
Butler developed the three chapters of ''Erewhon'' that make up "The Book of the Machines" from a number of articles he had contributed to ''[[The Press]]'', which had just begun publication in [[Christchurch]], New Zealand, beginning with "[[Darwin among the Machines]]" (1863). Butler was the first to write about the possibility that [[Artificial consciousness|machines might develop consciousness]] by [[natural selection]].<ref>[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6173 "Darwin among the Machines"], reprinted in the Notebooks of Samuel Butler at [[Project Gutenberg]]</ref>

In his preface to the second edition Butler wrote, "I regret that reviewers have in some cases been inclined to treat the chapters on Machines as an attempt to reduce Mr Darwin's theory to an absurdity. Nothing could be further from my intention, and few things would be more distasteful to me than any attempt to laugh at Mr Darwin."