Robots & Cyborgs & A.I. Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

"That's the trouble with robots. You can never be sure you've shut them down. Twist a few wires together and they're anybody's."
— Doctor Who, in "Dreamland" [2009 webcast]

"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man."
— Elbert Hubbard [1856-1915]

"We cannot be 'for' or 'against' [artificial intelligence technology], insofar as it is already here and not likely to disappear any time soon."
— anthropologist Régis Meyran, in 2021

Automatons - self-operating machines - existed or were merely dreamt of as far back as the Ancient Greeks (VIIIth Century BCE) and Ancient China (IIId Century BCE). There are many accounts of mechanical humans and animals from Medieval Arabia, Italy, and China. Leonardo da Vinci [1452-1519] sketched a 'mechanical knight' automaton around 1495 that was not rediscovered until the 1950s. Clockwork automatons were popular among the nobility of Europe and Japan during the XVIIIth & XIXth Century. The Golden Age of Automata produced many singing birds; collectors especially desire those made in Paris, France. Many automatons were exhibited as part of travelling shows, and simpler mechanical toys were marketed to the public. (Oddly, neither French author Jules Verne [1828-1905] nor American author Edgar Rice Burroughs [1875-1950] seem to have written about automatons.)

          More recently, scientific visionary Nikola Tesla [1856-1943] demonstrated the first radio-controlled toy-sized mechanical boat in 1898, which he called a 'teleautomaton'. The 1921 stageplay "R.U.R." coined the term 'robot' (R.U.R. stands for manufacturer Rossum's Universal Robots, based on the Czech word for slave). Westinghouse Electric exhibited the Elektro robot at the 1939 World Fair, and added his robot dog Sparko at the 1940 fair.
          The first general-purpose electronic computer 'Whirlwind' was designed and built by M.I.T. in 1946 for the U.S. Navy. Walt Disney designed and built the 'animatronic' Abraham Lincoln for the 1964 World Fair; it sits and speaks and gestures and stands, and remains a popular exhibit at Disneyland in California.
          Hundreds of variations on the robot concept are in use today, from industrial machines that weld cars or fill orders at Amazon's warehouses to cute toy pets from Japan that wag their tails and annoy the owner until the robot is 'fed'. One type to be concerned about are the 'lethal autonomous robots', military weapons that seek and destroy without direct human operation; at this time {sic!}, the 'kill/shoot' function requires a human for remote activation.
          Second quarter 2022: Robot sales in North America hit a record high for the third straight quarter, according to the Association for Advancing Automation.

In literature, the earliest tales of an artificial man include 'The Legend of The Golem' Page, recorded in the Jewish Talmud circa 200 C.E. Mary Shelley published "Frankenstein" in 1816, but that novel is about a monster, not any sort of robot. Also in 1816, German author E.T.A. Hoffmann (most famous for "The Nutcracker") published the short story "Der Sandmann", in which the beautiful daughter of a university professor is revealed to be an automaton. The first mechanical man in literature appeared in "The Huge Hunter" [1868] by Edward S. Ellis [1840-1916], followed by several imitations in the weekly nickel pulps of the day. The Tin Woodman appeared in "The Wizard of Oz" [1900] and other books by L. Frank Baum [1856-1919] – a special case, as sorcery was involved in his creation. The first androids {wholly-manufactured humanoids} in literature appeared in the Czech stageplay "R.U.R." in 1920, which also coined the term 'robot', based on a Czech word for 'slave' or 'drudge'. The first cyborg in literature appeared in "The Clockwork Man" [1923] by Edwin Vincent (E.V.) Odle [1890-1942]. Sci-fi author Isaac Asimov created the Three Laws of Robotics in a short story in 1942, and added another law (prior in the list, so 'zero-eth') in 1985.

"The Glass Cage: Automation and Us" [9/2014] by Nicholas Carr
http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Cage-Automation-Us-ebook/dp/B00J9PQXOE/

Fiction Works
A search at Amazon for books & Kindle Edition ebook fiction about robots & cyborgs returns over 12,000 titles; not only is that way too many to be useful, apparently
the most popular sub-genre is 'forbidden cyborg/robot erotica', including several such neo-classics with a title akin to "My Gay Cyborg Stepbrother" . . .

Of course, this page too became really, really big and so it was split in early 2018 and again in July 2018.

Visiting this webpage from outside the U.S.A.? It is possible to make purchases from these coded Amazon (USA) links
via other Amazon sites: just follow these instructions.

	"Introduction To Artificial Intelligence" textbook [1974, rev 1985] by Philip C. Jackson, Jr. - with 132 illustrations Kindle 2nd edition from Dover Publns [1/2013] for $9.99 Dover Books on Mathematics 8½x5½ 2nd edition pb [6/85] for $17.31 Petrocelli Books 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1974] out of print/used
	"Principles of Artificial Intelligence" [1982] by Nils J. Nilsson Kindle Edition from Morgan Kaufmann [6/2014] for $58.36 {sic} Morgan Kaufmann 9¼x6 pb [12/2014] for $72.95 {sic} Springer Verlag Berlin 9½x6¾ pb [4/2014] for $95.58 {sic} Morgan Kaufmann 9¾x6½ hardcover [2/82] out of print/used Morgan Kaufmann 9¾x6½ hardcover [2/82] out of print/used
	"Robot: Mere Machine To Transcendent Mind" [1998] by Hans Moravec Oxford Univ Press 9x6 pb [5/2000] for $24.95 Oxford Univ Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [12/98] out of print/40+ used Oxford Univ Press hardcover [12/98] out of print/used
	"Robo Sapiens: Evolution of A New Species" [2000] by Peter Menzel & Faith D'Aluisio The M.I.T. Press 10¾x8½ pb [10/2001] for $22.58 The M.I.T. Press 10¾x8½ hardcover [9/2000] for $35.00
	"D.K. Eyewitness Books: Robot" [ages 8-12; 2004] by Roger Bridgman Discover the amazing world of machines, from robots that play chess to systems that think DK Children 11¼x8½ hardcover [3/2004] for $11.32
	"The Enlightenment Cyborg: A History of Communications and Control In The Human Machine, 1660-1830" [2007] by Allison Muri Univ Toronto Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [2007] for $76.00 Univ Toronto Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [2007] out of print/used
	"Love + Sex With Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships" [2007] by David Levy Kindle Edition from HarperCollins e-books [10/2009] for $13.99 Harper Perennial 8x5¼ pb [11/2008] for $14.99 Harper 9¼x6¼ hardcover [2007] for $24.00
	"Robots" [ages 8-14; 2008] by Clive Gifford, Illustrated by Frank Picini Atheneum BFYR 10¼x11¾ hardcover [6/2008] for $16.98
	"Robots: From Everyday To Out of This World" [9/2008] by the Editors of YES Magazine Kids Can Press, Ltd. 10¾x8¼ pb [9/2008] for $7.59 Kids Can Press, Ltd. 11¼x8¾ hardcover [9/2008] for $16.95
	"The Quest For Artificial Intelligence: A History of Ideas and Achievements" [2009] by Nils J. Nilsson described as the 'definitive history of the field of artificial intelligence' Kindle Edition from Cambridge Univ Press [10/2009] for $31.16 {sic} Cambridge Univ Press 9¼x6 pb [10/2009] for $50.98 {sic} Cambridge Univ Press 9¼x6 hardcover [10/2009] for $170.00 {sic}
	"Artificial Intelligence: The Basics" [2011] by Kevin Warwick Kindle Edition from Routledge [3/2013] for $19.83 Routledge Basics 7¾x5 pb [10/2011] for $20.87 Routledge Basics 8¼x5½ hardcover [10/2011] for $96.95 {sic}
	"Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics" [2011] Edited by Patrick Lin, Keith Abney & George A. Bekey Kindle Edition from The M.I.T. Press [12/2011] for $19.27 The M.I.T. Press 9x7 pb [1/2014] for $33.63 The M.I.T. Press 9x7 hardcover [12/2011] out of print/used
	"The Machine Question: Critical Perspectives On AI, Robots, and Ethics" [2012] by David J. Gunkel Kindle Edition from M.I.T. Press [7/2012] for $16.19 The M.I.T. Press 9x6 pb [9/2017] for $26.81 The M.I.T. Press 9x6 hardcover [7/2012] for $41.00
	"TIME: Rise of The Robots" special issue [2013] Edited by Neil Fine 112-page TIME Magazine special issue [2013] out of print/used
	"Robots, Robots Everywhere!" [ages 2-5; 2013] by Sue Fliess, Illustrated by Bob Staake Kindle Edition from Random House/Golden Books [8/2013] for $3.53 Little Golden Books 8x7 hardcover [8/2013] for $3.72 Little Golden Books 8x7 hardcover [8/2013] third party/used
	"Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and The End of The Human Era" [2013] by James Barrat Kindle Edition from Thomas Dunne/Macmillan [10/2013] for $9.99 St. Martin's Griffin 8¼x5½ pb [2/2015] for $12.95 Thomas Dunne Books 8½x5¾ hardcover [10/2013] for $19.76
	"Famous Robots and Cyborgs: An Encyclopedia of Robots From TV, Film, Literature, Comics, Toys, and More" [2014] by Dan Roberts Kindle Edition from Skyhorse Publng [2/2014] for $9.99 Skyhorse Publng 8¼x5½ pb [2/2014] for $8.08
	"National Geographic Readers: Robots" [ages 6-9; 2014] by Melissa Stewart Kindle Edition from National Geographic [4/2014] for $3.79 National Geographic Children's Books 9x6 pb [4/2014] for $3.99 National Geographic Children's Books 9¼x6¼ library hardcover [4/2014] for $12.51
	"The Artificial Intelligence Revolution: Will Artificial Intelligence Serve Us or Replace Us?" [2014] by Louis A. Del Monte Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [4/2014] for $2.99 self-publd 9x6 pb [4/2014] for $9.95
	"Smarter Than Us: The Rise of Machine Intelligence" [2014] by Stuart Armstrong of M.I.R.I. in Berkeley, CA 64-page Kindle Edition from Machine Intelligence Research Institute [2/2014] for $2.99 62-page Machine Intelligence Research Institute 8x5¼ pb [5/2014] for $4.99
	"The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence" [2014] Edited by Keith Frankish & William M. Ramsey Kindle Edition from Cambridge Univ Press [6/2014] for $15.90 Cambridge Univ Press 9½x6¾ pb [7/2014] for $26.06 Cambridge Univ Press 10x7 hardcover [8/2014] for $88.42 {sic}

	"Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide To Wealth and Work In The Age of Artificial Intelligence" [2015] by Jerry Kaplan Selected by The Economist as one of the 10 best science and technology books of 2015 Kindle Edition from Yale Univ Press [8/2015] for $9.99 Yale Univ Press 8¼x5½ pb [11/2016] for $11.10 Yale Univ Press 8¼x5½ hardcover [8/2015] for $5.90
	"The Fourth Industrial Revolution" [2016] by economist Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum [est. 1971], which meets every year at Davos, Switzerland (plus other events & locations) Kindle Edition from Currency/Random House [1/2017] for $14.99 Penguin Books 9¼x6 pb [1/2017] for $18.47 Crown/Currency 8½x5¾ hardcover [1/2017] for $16.70
	"A World With Robots: International Conference on Robot Ethics: ICRE 2015" [2017] Edited by Maria Isabel Aldinhas Ferreira, Joao Silva Sequeira, Mohammad Osman Tokhi, Endre E. Kadar, Gurvinder Singh Virk from the conference held in Lisbon, Portugal on October 23-24, 2015 Kindle Edition from Springer [1/2017] for $101.15 {sic} Springer 9¼x6 pb [7/2018] for $169.99 Springer 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1/2017] for $106.47
	"To Be A Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and The Futurists Solving The Modest Problems of Death" [2017] by Mark O'Connell Offers insight into transhumanism and efforts to create a new version of humanity using science and technology Kindle Edition from Doubleday/Random House [2/2017] for $13.99 Verso U.K. pb [undated] import/new-used Doubleday 9½x6½ hardcover [2/2017] for $16.82
	"Social Robots: Boundaries, Potential, Challenges" [2016] by Marco Nørskov Kindle Edition from Routledge [7/2017] for $50.99 {sic} Routledge 9¼x6 hardcover [3/2016] for $134.00 {sic}
	"Robot Ethics 2.0: From Autonomous Cars To Artificial Intelligence" [2017] Edited by Patrick Lin, Ryan Jenkins & Keith Abney Kindle Edition from Oxford Univ Press [9/2017] for $14.57 Oxford Univ Press 9¼x6 hardcover [10/2017] for $36.56
	"Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications" [2017] Edited by John Danaher & Neil McArthur Kindle Edition from The M.I.T. Press [10/2017] for $9.99 The M.I.T. Press 9x7 pb [9/2018] for $19.95 The M.I.T. Press 9x7 hardcover [10/2017] for $14.58
	"Living With Robots" [2017] by Paul Dumouchel & Luisa Damiano, Translated by Malcolm DeBevoise the book is chiefly concerned with social robotics and 'artificial empathy' Kindle Edition from Harvard Univ Press [11/2017] for $20.40 {sic} Harvard Univ Press 8½x5¾ hardcover [11/2017] for $21.47
	"The Sentient Machine: The Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence" [2017] by Amir Husain Kindle Edition from Scribner/Simon & Schuster Digital Sales [11/2017] for $12.99 Scribner 8½x5½ pb [11/2017] for $11.59 Scribner 9x6 hardcover [11/2017] for $14.58
	"Artificial Intelligence: 101 Things You Must Know Today About Our Future" [2018] by Lasse Rouhiainen Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [1/2018] for $12.00 CreateSpace 8½x5½ pb [1/2018] for $15.18
	"Shaping {The Future of} The Fourth Industrial Revolution" [2018] by Klaus Schwab, with Nicholas Davis, Foreword by Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, Inc. economist Schwab is the founder of the World Economic Forum [est. 1971], which meets every year at Davos, Switzerland (plus other events & locations) Kindle Edition from World Economic Forum [1/2018] for $9.99 World Economic Forum 9x6 pb [1/2018] for $13.24 "... Future": Kindle Edition from Currency/Random House [11/2018] for $14.99 "... Future": Crown/Currency 9¼x6 pb [11/2018] for $19.49
	"The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and The Future of Humanity" [2018] by Byron Reese Kindle Edition from Atria Books/Simon & Schuster Digital Sales [4/2018] for $12.99 Simon & Schuster India 9x6 pb [4/2018] for $22.60 Atria Books 8½x5½ pb [DUE March 2020] pricing unknown Atria Books 9x6 hardcover [4/2018] for $25.72
	"The Efficiency Paradox: What Big Data Can't Do" [2018] by Edward Tenner Algorithms, multitasking, the sharing economy, life hacks: there is no doubt that we're performing at higher levels and moving at unprecedented speed, but what if we're headed in the wrong direction? Kindle Edition from Knopf/Random House [4/2018] for $14.99 Vintage 8x5¼ pb [DUE March 2019] for $11.91 Knopf 9½x6½ deckle-edge hardcover [4/2018] for $16.44
	"Turned On: Science, Sex, and Robots" [2018] by Kate Devlin Sex robots are here, and here to stay; this book explores the history of the artificial sexual com-panion, the 'modern' robot and the XXth Century sci-fi that promised us our own robot slaves, artificial intelligence, the urge to create sentient machines, and delves into our own psychology: How does desire affect our own behavior? Can we become attached to an inanimate object? Can robots make society a better place? – and asks the question 'What can go wrong?' Kindle Edition from Bloomsbury Sigma [10/2018] for $9.99 Bloomsbury Sigma 8½x5½ pb [10/2018] for $19.52 Bloomsbury Sigma 8¾x5¾ hardcover [12/2018] for $17.39
	"Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology" [2018] by Adrienne Mayor, a research scholar at Stanford University Kindle Edition from Princeton Univ Press [11/2018] for $16.17 Princeton Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [11/2018] for $18.99
	"Artificial Intelligence: A Comprehensive Guide To AI, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Robotics, Deep Learning, Predictive Analytics, Neural Networks, Reinforcement Learning, and Our Future" [2019] by Neil Wilkins Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [4/2019] for $4.99 indep 9x6 pb [4/2019] for $14.74
	"Sex Robots: The End of Love" [2019] by Dr. Kathleen Richardson Polity 8½x5½ pb [DUE July 2019] for $19.95 Polity 8½x5½ hardcover [DUE July 2019] for $61.70 {sic}
	"A Human Algorithm: How Artificial Intelligence Is Redefining Who We Are" [2019] by Flynn Coleman Kindle Edition from Counterpoint [DUE Oct 2019] for $17.29 Counterpoint 9x6 hardcover [DUE Oct 2019] for $18.20

	Actroid humanoid animatronic robots [launched 2003] from SanRio Kokoro in Japan official Kokoro / Actroid website Actroid robots entry at Wikipedia
	Ameca: The Most Realistic Humanoid Robot Yet [launched 1/2022] from Engineered Arts in Falmouth, Cornwall, U.K. robots available for rent (no price given); uses in-house software Tritium & Tinman official Engineered Arts / Ameca website Ameca / robotics entry at Wikipedia {empty} watch 12/2021 ColdfusionTV podcast [14:35] online at YouTube
	ASIMO 130 cm (4'3") tall humanoid service robot [launched 2000] from Honda Robotics in Japan - not yet for sale official Honda / ASIMO website ASIMO robot entry at Wikipedia
	Atlas humanoid robot [2013] built for D.A.R.P.A. by Boston Dynamics in Massachusetts now performing acrobatic tricks – jogging, hopping over a log, executing box jumps official Boston Dynamics / Atlas website Atlas robot entry at Wikipedia 9/2019 article from The Seattle Times
	Geminoid tele-operated android robots [launched 2006] from Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories of Osaka, Japan and Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (A.T.R.) Model HI-4 [2006] is image of scientist Ishiguro; Model 5/DK is image of bearded Danish professor Henrik Schärfe; and Model 6/F [2010] is a female android official H.I.L. / A.T.R. website Actroid/Geminoid robots entry at Wikipedia
	"Geminoid Studies: Science and Technologies for Humanlike Teleoperated Androids" [2018] Edited by Hiroshi Ishiguro & Fabio Dalla Libera Kindle Edition from Springer [4/2018] for $113.04 {sic} Springer 9¼x6 pb [12/2018] for $179.99 {sic} Springer 9¼x6 hardcover [4/2018] for $118.99 {sic}
	Optimus humanoid robot prototype [first public demo 2022] manufactured by Tesla Robotics Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the prototype for its humanoid robot 'Optimus' at the company’s second A.I. showcase in September 2022. The robot walked and waved live on stage; in videos, it carried boxes around a Tesla office and watered plants with a watering can. The final version could still be years away; Musk plans to put the robots to work in Tesla’s factories first, but ultimately envisions a consumer robot that can do things like run errands or be a companion. A Tesla engineer said that Optimus uses the same A.I. to detect objects as the Autopilot system that is used in the company’s cars. Critics mostly communicated disbelief in Musk's sincerity and-or his truthfulness. no robotics homepage found • Optimus robot entry at Wikipedia
	Pepper semi-humanoid social robot [launched 2014] manufactured by SoftBank Robotics (formerly Aldebaran Robotics) official SoftBank Robotics website Pepper social robot entry at Wikipedia
	Spot canine robot [launched 2016] built by Boston Dynamics in Massachusetts intended for patrol & surveillance work, replacing real dogs and human handlers official Boston Dynamics / Spot homepage Spot robot entry at Wikipedia 2/2022 article from The Paper in Albuquerque, NM
	Toyota T-HR3 humanoid robot [2017 & 2018] from Toyota Partner Robot Division of Japan the remotely-controlled 150cm (59 inches) tall T-HR3 robot copies the motions of a person in a human operator module; the 2017 version used cables for the connection but the 2018 version uses 5G wireless at a distance of up to 10 km (6.2 miles) official Toyota Partner Robot website Toyota T-HR3 robot entry at Wikipedia watch 11/2017 promo video [10:10] online at YouTube

Spirit of America Bookstore Robots and Cyborgsand Artificial Intelligence

Spirit of America Bookstore
Robots and Cyborgs
and Artificial Intelligence