The Robot - (Greenwood Technographies) by Lisa Nocks (Hardcover)

About the Book

In almost all depictions of the future, one technology plays a prominent role - the robot. Science fiction movies and stories tell us that, in the not so distant future, robots - from Robbie the Robot to C3PO to the Terminator - will be everywhere, taking care of every human need. Those are projections of the future. But robots have a history as well, and The Robot: A Life Story of a Technology tells their story. During the Englightenment, automata were mechnical toys that could simulate human actions. Robots became essential parts of factories, performing tasks perfectly that would be either too dangerous or boring for humans. And recent advances in artificial intelligence have made robots that can behave with intelligence.
The volume includes a timeline of important events, a glossary of terms, and a bibliography of important primary and secondary sources that are useful for further research.

Book Synopsis

In almost all depictions of the future, one technology plays a prominent role - the robot. Science fiction movies and stories tell us that, in the not so distant future, robots - from Robbie the Robot to C3PO to the Terminator - will be everywhere, taking care of every human need. Those are projections of the future. But robots have a history as well, and The Robot: A Life Story of a Technology tells their story. During the Englightenment, automata were mechnical toys that could simulate human actions. Robots became essential parts of factories, performing tasks perfectly that would be either too dangerous or boring for humans. And recent advances in artificial intelligence have made robots that can behave with intelligence.

Review Quotes

"Concise and direct to the point, Nocks' technography on the robot offers a rich overview of the systems we understand as robotic. It summarizes the 30-some year-long history of a plethora of ideas, experiments, and implementations that have found their places in our everyday lives. . . . Kudos to the author on the perfect marriage between coverage and length in this volume. In fewer than 200 pages, one finds great essays that do not leave too much out. Everything relevant to robotics today can be found here, albeit in an introductory form. But that is exactly what this book aims to achieve: to give us the grand picture of a grand technology, and motivate us to explore further. Highly recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through faculty." --Choice

"Following the format of a life story, Nocks provides a volume for students and general readers on the development of robot technology. The volume moves from the robot's forerunners, to its invention, prominence, and final decline. How the technology affected society and culture is interwoven with the description of its history. She begins as far back as myths in ancient times, discusses clock and toymakers of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, and considers twentieth century advances in control engineering, the incorporation of robots in industry, and artificial intelligence and recent developments that incorporate perception, independence, and artificial muscles." --SciTech Book News

About the Author

Lisa Nocks is a historian who writes on the diffusion of scientific and technical knowledge to the public through the media. She has authored a number of articles on the history of media technologies and essays on the relationship between science fiction and science. She is currently teaching at Fordham University, Rose Hill, in the department of Communication and Media Studies.