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The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous 19th Century Chess-Playing Machine


<p>On an autumn day in 1769, a Hungarian nobleman named Wolfgang von Kempelen attended a conjuring show at the court of Maria Theresa, empress of Austria-Hungary. So unimpressed was Kempelen by the performance that he declared he could do better himself. Maria Theresa held him to his word and gave him six months to prepare a show of his own. Kempelen did not disappoint; he returned to the court the following spring with a mechanical man, fashioned from wood, powered by clockwork, dressed in a stylish Turkish costume—and capable of playing chess.</p> <p>The Turk, as this contraption became known, was an instant success, and Tom Standage’s book chronicles its illustrious career in Europe and America over the next eighty five years. Associated over time with a host of historical figures, including Benjamin Franklin, Catherine the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Charles Babbage, and Edgar Allan Poe, Kempelen’s creation unwittingly also helped to inspire the development of the power loom, the computer, and the detective story. Everywhere it went, the Turk baffled spectators and provoked frenzied speculation about whether a machine could really think. Many rival theories were published, but they served only to undermine each other.</p> <p>Part historical detective story, part biography, <i>The Turk</i> relates the saga of the machine’s remarkable and checkered career against the backdrop of the industrial revolution, as mechanical technology opened up dramatic new possibilities and the relationship between people and machines was being redefined. Today, in the midst of the computer age, it has assumed a new significance, as scientists and philosophers continue to debate the possibility of machine intelligence. To modern eyes, the Turk now seems to have been a surprisingly farsighted invention, and its saga is a colorful and important part of the history of technology.</p>

Author(s): Tom Standage  

ISBN 10: 0802713912
ISBN 13: 9780802713919
Pages: 224
Format: Hardcover
Publication: 2002/04/01
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Other books by Tom Standage

1. A history of the world in 6 glasses Paperback (8/22/2006)
2. A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 6 GLASSES Paperback, 2007 (2007)
3. A History of the World in Six Glasses Paperback (2005)
4. An Edible History of Humanity Paperback (April 2010)
5. An Edible History of Humanity Compact Disc (July 2009)
6. An Edible History of Humanity Compact Disc (June 2009)
7. An Edible History of Humanity MP3 Book (June 2009)
8. An Edible History of Humanity Hardcover (August 2009)
9. An Edible History of Humanity [With Earbuds] (Playaway Adult Nonfiction) Preloaded Digital Audio Player (September 2009)
10. Edible History of Humanity Hardcover (May 2009)
11. Edible History of Humanity Compact Disc (June 2009)
12. Historia swiata w szesciu szklankach (2007)
13. History of the World in 6 Glasses Hardcover (June 2005)
14. History of the World in 6 Glasses Paperback (May 2006)
15. History of the World in Six Glasses - Tom Standage - Hardcover Hardcover (May 2005)
16. La Historia Del Mundo En Seis Tragos Hardcover (2006)
17. The Future of Technology Hardcover (September 2005)
18. The Mechanical Turk : The True Story of the Chess-Playing Machine That Fooled the World Paperback (September 2004)
19. The Mechanical Turk: The True Story of the Chess-Playing Machine That Fooled the World Hardcover (2002/04/25)
20. The Neptune File

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