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Edison's Eve : A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life
Edison's Eve A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life
Author: Gaby Wood
A rich and informative exploration of our age-old obsession with “making life.” — Could an eighteenth-century mechanical duck really digest and excrete its food? Was “the Turk,” a celebrated chess-playing and -winning machine fabricated in 1769, a dazzling piece of fakery, or could it actually think? Why was Thomas Edison ...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780679451129
ISBN-10: 0679451129
Publication Date: 8/13/2002
Pages: 336
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Publisher: Knopf
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
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PhoenixFalls avatar reviewed Edison's Eve : A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life on + 185 more book reviews
The book is well researched and the subject interesting, but throughout the author betrays the same anxiety and fear of artificial intelligence that she purports to be analyzing. She talks about the increasing complexity of mechanical life and whether or not it may someday become indistinguishable from humanity, then immediately jumps to the conclusion that when that day comes, it will necessitate the subjugation of humanity. This underlying assumption and fear poisoned my enjoyment of the book such that I could not finish it.


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