First Mechanical Man in Literature.
Brett Person
Doug Jone's post about Tic-Toc made me think ( without any winding even)
about mechanical men in Literature. Any idea what the first occurence of a
robot speaking was in literature?
--
Brett Person
Guest Account
North Dakota State University
per...@plains.nodak.edu || per...@plains.bitnet
Klaus Ole Kristiansen
According to Homer, the Olympian gods were served by mechanical servants
made by Hephaistos.
Klaus O K
antonio vasconcelos
:
: Doug Jone's post about Tic-Toc made me think ( without any winding even)
: about mechanical men in Literature. Any idea what the first occurence of a
: robot speaking was in literature?
The word ROBOT was invented by Karel Kapek in the play R.U.R. but I'm
not sure if it was the 1st mechanical man.
--
regards,
_____
|/asco (Antonio Vasconcelos, Lisbon Stock Exchange: va...@bvl.pt)
Tracy M Nelson
:
: Doug Jone's post about Tic-Toc made me think ( without any winding even)
Hmmm, best guess would be one of the "robots" in "R.U.R." (Rossum's
Universal Robots) by... Pietek? A Czech author. Interesting in
that his "robots" were, in fact, just manufactured men (who ate
hay and were very strong and impervious to pain). Just happened to
read this once in high school (many, many beers ago), I apologize
for not having better information. And here I used to be an
English major, too....
Tracy Nelson
Just think of vi as a full-screen TECO...
Jim Frost
>Brett Person (per...@plains.NoDak.edu) wrote:
>: Doug Jone's post about Tic-Toc made me think ( without any winding even)
>: about mechanical men in Literature. Any idea what the first occurence of a
>: robot speaking was in literature?
>Hmmm, best guess would be one of the "robots" in "R.U.R." (Rossum's
>Universal Robots) by... Pietek? A Czech author. Interesting in
>that his "robots" were, in fact, just manufactured men (who ate
>hay and were very strong and impervious to pain).
There were numerous stories about "steam-powered mechanical men" in
the 1800's. I ran across a story about them recently, I think in
Scientific American's column on articles from 50 and 100 years ago.
It was also a common thing to talk about mechanical men created by
watchmakers and such (remember the Nutcracker?). I suspect those
stories would date back farther.
I have no idea about mechanical men that speak but I wouldn't be
surprised to find that attribute in many of the stories.
jim frost
ji...@centerline.com
Michael P Urban
created in 1904, may be the first mechanical man in literature to
speak; as far as I know, previous mechanical men (like the
mythological Talos) did not possess this ability. It may also be
instructive to note that the famous (and fraudulent) `Chess-playing
Turk' robot of the 1800's never spoke, which suggests to me that the
cultural expectations of a mechanical man tended towards the strong,
silent type. Incidentally, Edgar Allen Poe wrote an essay in which he
attempted to penetrate the secret of the Turk. Some of his thoughts
prefigure discussions of A.I. in an interesting way. His explanation
of the stage illusions used to create the mechanical man were
substantially correct; Poe was a very intelligent and careful
observer. Find this essay if you can.
`Maria', the mechanical counterfit in Fritz Lang's `Metropolis',
talked a blue streak. I think she may pre-date Capek's robots, but do
not have my dates straight on this.
Mike Urban
Brad Polant
Matt Austern
> Doug Jone's post about Tic-Toc made me think ( without any winding even)
> about mechanical men in Literature. Any idea what the first occurence of a
> robot speaking was in literature?
As Asimov pointed out, there is a description in the Iliad of
mechanical people. (I think it specifically says they were made of
metal, but I don't remember that for sure.) They were built by...
um... I'm not going to try to spell his name without a dictionary.
The Greek god of the forge, anyway; his Latin equivalent is Vulcan.
--
Matthew Austern Maybe we can eventually make language a
ma...@physics.berkeley.edu complete impediment to understanding.
azog
>In article <C6FvJ...@ns1.nodak.edu> per...@plains.NoDak.edu (Brett Person) writes:
>> Doug Jone's post about Tic-Toc made me think ( without any winding even)
>> about mechanical men in Literature. Any idea what the first occurence of a
>> robot speaking was in literature?
>As Asimov pointed out, there is a description in the Iliad of
>mechanical people. (I think it specifically says they were made of
>metal, but I don't remember that for sure.) They were built by...
>um... I'm not going to try to spell his name without a dictionary.
>The Greek god of the forge, anyway; his Latin equivalent is Vulcan.
I once read a series of books by kennith flint (?) who writes about
ancient Irish folklore. One of the books dealt with someone called
Balor One-Eye, who was some sort of man, encased in metal, and had
all the trappings of being mechanical.
Now, I dont know a whole lot abot Irish folklore, so I dont know it
Balor was a real legend, or just a handy character. However, the
hero of the story, Finn McCuhmal (sp? its been shortened to Finn
McCool), certinaly is a real part of Irish lore.
(for those who may not know, not that I do, many of these folklore
stories date back to probably before the Iliad. Of course, no flames,
since I could, and probably am, be wrong)
--
Billy D'Augustine
az...@world.std.com
Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Lather.
Ron Asbestos Dippold
mythology.
--
Warning: This quote warps space and time in its vicinity.
Anno Siegel
>Not precisely mechanical, but the golem goes back a long way in Jewish
>mythology.
To make a golem, shape earth from virgin soil into the form of a man and
perform dances around it chanting Kabbalistic letter combinations. Finding
the right ones may require some study. When it arises, write a
tetragrammaton on a piece of paper and place it under its tongue to
animate it. Stay out of its way. They're strong and not too smart.
One golem dates back to Solomon Ibn Gabriol (1021-58) of spain, who made
himself an artificial maid servant. Israel Baal Shem Tov also had a golem.
One day he told him to grease his wagon, and when he found that the golem
had smeared grease all over the wagon, he realized that he wanted a human
servant.
Source: Alan Unterman, Dictionary of Jewish Lore And Legend
Anno
Edward Rice
av> The word ROBOT was invented by Karel Kapek in the play R.U.R. but I'm
av> not sure if it was the 1st mechanical man.
Capek, with a hachek over the "C," I believe. And I'm not sure that was the
first -- for one thing, I think the Oz book pre-dated it. Capek invented the
/word/ "robot," but the concept of a "golem" (a non-human, man-like creation)
goes back a long, long time in Jewish folklore in Eastern Europe. Some,
obviously, were more mechanical than others.
James W. Birdsall
>tne...@fluorite.telesciences.com (Tracy M Nelson) writes:
>>Hmmm, best guess would be one of the "robots" in "R.U.R." (Rossum's
>>Universal Robots) by... Pietek? A Czech author. Interesting in
>>that his "robots" were, in fact, just manufactured men (who ate
>>hay and were very strong and impervious to pain).
The author was Karel Capek.
>It was also a common thing to talk about mechanical men created by
>watchmakers and such (remember the Nutcracker?). I suspect those
>stories would date back farther.
Clockwork automatons have been around for a LONG time. I've found a
reference to a clockwork rooster atop the Strasbourg cathedral in 1350.
Henri Maillardet and the Jaquet-Droz brothers produced a number of humanoid
automatons in the 1810-1820 range, which could do things like draw, write,
and play the harpsichord.
For information on the history of robots, you might try to find
_The Robot Book_ by Robert Malone, HBJ 1978, ISBN 0-15-678452-1.
--
James W. Birdsall jwbi...@picarefy.picarefy.com
Compu$erve: 71261,1731 GEnie: J.BIRDSALL2
"For it is the doom of men that they forget." -- Merlin
da...@gilly.uucp
>One golem dates back to Solomon Ibn Gabriol (1021-58) of spain, who made
>himself an artificial maid servant. Israel Baal Shem Tov also had a golem.
>One day he told him to grease his wagon, and when he found that the golem
>had smeared grease all over the wagon, he realized that he wanted a human
>servant.
Perfect for this discussion - what a typical bug! :-)
------------------------ uunet!quack!gilly!dave ------------------------
================= Dave Fischer - Nature's Perfect Food =================
----------------------- dave%gi...@speedway.net ------------------------
Simon E. Booth
>In article <C6FvJ...@ns1.nodak.edu> per...@plains.NoDak.edu (Brett Person) writes:
>
>> Doug Jone's post about Tic-Toc made me think ( without any winding even)
>> about mechanical men in Literature. Any idea what the first occurence of a
>> robot speaking was in literature?
>
>As Asimov pointed out, there is a description in the Iliad of
>mechanical people. (I think it specifically says they were made of
>metal, but I don't remember that for sure.) They were built by...
>um... I'm not going to try to spell his name without a dictionary.
>The Greek god of the forge, anyway; his Latin equivalent is Vulcan.
The Greek name for Vulcan was Hephastates- I hope that spelling was correct.
I think that's why most folks refer to him as 'Vulcan'
Simon
Michael Covington
>
>The Greek name for Vulcan was Hephastates- I hope that spelling was correct.
Hephaistos. (Hephaestus, in semi-Latinized Greek.)
--
:- Michael A. Covington, Associate Research Scientist : *****
:- Artificial Intelligence Programs mcov...@ai.uga.edu : *********
:- The University of Georgia phone 706 542-0358 : * * *
:- Athens, Georgia 30602-7415 U.S.A. amateur radio N4TMI : ** *** ** <><
Ian Kemmish
He forged Talos out of bronze. I think to guard the treasures
of the gods. Or maybe for some other purpose.. I get confused easily.
--
Ian D. Kemmish Tel. +44 767 601 361
18 Durham Close uad...@dircon.co.uk
Biggleswade uknet!dircon!uad1077
Beds SG18 8HZ United Kingdom
Gord Deinstadt (C)
>ma...@physics2.berkeley.edu (Matt Austern) writes:
>>As Asimov pointed out, there is a description in the Iliad of
>>mechanical people. (I think it specifically says they were made of
>>metal, but I don't remember that for sure.) They were built by...
>>um... I'm not going to try to spell his name without a dictionary.
>>The Greek god of the forge, anyway; his Latin equivalent is Vulcan.
Hephaistos (older transliteration: Hephaestus).
And in support of their master moved his attendants.
These are golden, and in appearance like living young women.
There is intelligence in their hearts, and there is speech in them
and strength, and from the immortal gods they have learned how to do
things.
(Book 18 lines 417-420)
Trans. Richmond Lattimore Univ. of Chicago Press 1961
(There are other possible quotations but this one specifically mentions
speaking, which the original poster asked about. Homer and the Greek
tradition generally make clear that Hephaistos doesn't just wave a magic
wand to make things - he is a craftsman and makes his marvellous devices
by "techne" = art or skill. So these are real robots.)
>(for those who may not know, not that I do, many of these [Irish] folklore
>stories date back to probably before the Iliad. Of course, no flames,
>since I could, and probably am, be wrong)
The Iliad was written in the 8th century BC, but is based on legends
that go back at least 6 centuries earlier. But the above piece could
be original to Homer, if there was a Homer, for all we know.
BTW: There was just a discussion of robots in legend in either sci.classics
or alt.mythology; I forget which.
--
Gord Deinstadt gdein...@geovision.gvc.com <-- for the moment
ad...@freenet.carleton.ca <-- permanent
Brett Person
was that it actually moved. My memory is real vague on this. Seem to
remember something about it being lost at sea. Either falling or being
tossed over the edge of the ship. Anyone wanna set me straight on this?
--
Brett Person
Guest Account
North Dakota State University
per...@plains.nodak.edu || per...@plains.bitnet
IBM Screen Reader Technical Support
work: (701)-280-0067
Robert Bernecky
>anno...@zrz.tu-berlin.de (Anno Siegel) writes:
>
>>One golem dates back to Solomon Ibn Gabriol (1021-58) of spain, who made
>>himself an artificial maid servant. Israel Baal Shem Tov also had a golem.
>>One day he told him to grease his wagon, and when he found that the golem
>>had smeared grease all over the wagon, he realized that he wanted a human
>>servant.
AI Joke time:
SOmeone is sitting in their house when the doorbell rings. Goes to the
door, opens it (CLearly not NYC here..) to see a robot standing there
with an IBM logo on its belly. The Robot says:
Good day. I am a new AI robot from IBM. As part of a marketing
strategy and IBM public relations program, I am going about various
neighborhoods introducing this new product to people by doing
odd jobs around houses. Might I perform one for you, to show you
how IBM is making practical use of AI technology? (Much shaggy
story deleted here, but you get the idea).
Person: Sure. I was just about to paint the porch. There's paint out
there, as well as brushes, etc.
Goes back inside, and later on hears a knock on the door. Opens it, and...
Robot says:
The job's done. Here's the brushes and paint cans, etc.
{They're beautifully cleaned up, so that you can barely tell they
had been used).
I hope you like the work, and will consider buying IBM the next
time you're considering a robot for the house.
{Turns around and walks down the stairs..., then turns back and says:}
Oh, and by the way: It wasn't a Porsche, it was a Mercedes.
Robert Bernecky r...@yrloc.ipsa.reuter.com bern...@itrchq.itrc.on.ca
Snake Island Research Inc (416) 368-6944 FAX: (416) 360-4694
18 Fifth Street, Ward's Island
Toronto, Ontario M5J 2B9
Canada
Michael Covington
>>>had smeared grease all over the wagon, he realized that he wanted a human
>>>servant.
I had a dream about a month ago that has the character of an AI joke.
I work with the backward-chaining language Prolog.
In the dream, I needed to fly from here (near Atlanta) to Toronto.
The airline's computer found me a flight to Toronto... from Vancouver.
Then it found me a flight to Vancouver... from Boise, Idaho.
Then it found me a flight to Boise... from Denver.
Then it found me a flight to Denver... from Detroit.
Whereupon I told them I'd get off in Detroit and drive the rest
of the way!