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The Robot The Life Story of a Technology
Lisa Nocks
Book Code: GR3168
ISBN: 0-313-33168-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33168-8
224 pages, 19 photos, 1 figure
Greenwood Press
Publication: 2/28/2007
List Price: $45.00 (UK Sterling Price: £25.95)
Discount Price: $40.50 Greenwood Press Fall 2008 Backlist Sale. Use code 0826. Save 10%. Ends 12/31/2008.
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Series Title: Greenwood Technographies
Awards:
  • CHOICE 2007 Outstanding Academic Title
Reviews:
  • 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     September 2007
  • 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     June 2007
Description: 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 Robot covers all aspects of the history of robotics:
  • The mechanical toys in the Enlightenment, from mechanical timepieces and early computational devices, to music boxes and automated human-like figures designed to amuse royalty.

  • The use of automation in the Industrial Revolution, such as the Jacquard punch card loom and the famous "difference engine" of Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace, and the use of robotic arms in automation.

  • How by the mid-20th century robots became the icon for the future, and became an important feature of the popular culture.

  • Current trends in robotics, such as research into artificial intelligence and the creation of "friendly robots" that could make an impact in the marketplace.
    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.
    • LC Card Number: 2006038191
    LCC Class: TJ211
    Dewey Class: 629
    PDF Catalogs:
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    Sale Catalog 2008.pdf
    Awards Catalog.pdf
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