Book and media reviews from the journal Science, edited by Valerie Thompson.

Valerie Thompson, Editor

Posts tagged with "Robotics"

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  Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology
  Adrienne Mayor

  Book Artificial intelligence, Literature, Robotics

  Technology tales from classical literature reveal the storied history of artificial intelligence

  3 October, 2018

  Long before the advent of modern robots and artificial intelligence (AI), automated technology existed in the storytelling and imaginations of ancient societies. Hephaestus, blacksmith of the mythical Greek gods, fashioned mechanical serving maids from gold and endowed them with learning, reason, and skill in Homer’s Iliad. Designed to anticipate their master’s requests and act on… Read More
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  Underbug: An Obsessive Tale of Termites and Technology
  Lisa Margonelli

  Book Artificial intelligence, Entomology, Robotics

  Underbug

  4 September, 2018

  Lisa Margonelli’s Underbug book is definitely not about termites—at least, not as an entomologist would view them. Instead, it consists of stories of visits to labs and field sites, with reflections on questions raised by the research and researchers she encounters. Accounts of the biology of termites are scattered through chapters on how so-called “advanced”… Read More
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  Living with Robots
  Paul Dumouchel and Luisa Damiano

  Book Ethics, Robotics

  A pair of philosophers probe the ethical implications of designing social robots

  7 November, 2017

  In Living with Robots, Paul Dumouchel and Luisa Damiano foresee a social space inhabited by a variety of artificial agents possessing a spectrum of cognitive architectures. These range from entities completely deprived of physical dimensions, such as virtual banking advisers or military assistants, to social robots able to stand in for humans in such contexts… Read More
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  Robots
  Ben Russell, Curator

  Exhibition Engineering, Robotics

  A new exhibition surveys five centuries of robotic invention

  27 March, 2017

  For at least five centuries, humans have been dreaming up intelligent robots to do our bidding: from performing mundane tasks to completing difficult or complex endeavors that we cannot do ourselves. This 500-year quest is the subject of a groundbreaking new exhibition, entitled Robots, at the Science Museum London. Crossing boundaries of time and geography… Read More