Edison’s Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life
GABY WOOD
Visit this book's Amazon.com page >>
Book Description |
During the eighteenth century, the inventor Jacques de Vaucanson created a mechanical duck that seemingly could digest and excrete its food. A few decades later, Europeans fell in love with "the Turk," a celebrated chess-playing machine built in 1769. Thomas Edison was obsessed for years with making a talking mechanical doll, one of his few failures as an inventor. In our own time, scientists at MIT are trying to build a robot with emotions of its own.
What lies behind our age-old pursuit to create mechanical life? What does this pursuit tell us about human nature? In Edison's Eve Gaby Wood traces the history of robotics, from its most brilliant inventions to its most ingenious hoaxes. Joining lively anecdote with literary, cultural, and philosophical insights, Wood offers a captivating and learned work of science and history. |
Major Prize* Nominations |
1 |
|
Unique Books Nominated for a Major Prize* |
1 |
|
Pulitzer Prize Wins |
0 |
|
Pulitzer Prize Nominations |
0 |
|
National Book Critics Circle Award Wins |
0 |
|
National Book Critics Circle Award Nominations |
1 |
Edison’s Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life · |
National Book Award Wins |
0 |
|
National Book Award Nominations |
0 |
|
Man Booker Prize Wins |
0 |
|
Man Booker Prize Nominations |
0 |
|
PEN/Faulkner Award Wins |
0 |
|
PEN/Faulkner Award Nominations |
0 |
|
|
*Major Prize = Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, National Book Award, Man Booker Prize, and PEN/Faulkner Award
|
BACK
|