{"product_id":"edisons-eve-a-magical-history-of-the-quest-for-mechanical-life-paperback","title":"Edison's Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eGaby Wood\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat lies behind our age-old pursuit to create mechanical life? What does this pursuit tell us about human nature? In \u003cb\u003eEdison's Eve\u003c\/b\u003e 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.\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring 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. \u003cbr\u003eWhat 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eGaby Wood attended Cambridge University and has been a regular contributor to \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eLondon Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e. She is the author of a short work of nonfiction, \u003cb\u003eThe Smallest of All Persons Mentioned in the Records of Littleness\u003c\/b\u003e, and is now living in London, where she is a staff writer for \u003ci\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/i\u003e. This is her first full-length book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 352\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.73 x 8.02 x 5.15 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 08, 2003\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51760858988832,"sku":"9781400031580","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/81933b749121d1d282d3f127bfbdb5ff.webp?v=1780192022","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/edisons-eve-a-magical-history-of-the-quest-for-mechanical-life-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}