Automata (and Related) in Art
Automation has advanced to the existence of AI. From mythology to reality, I will discuss the wonder of these fascinating moving, mechanical devices. Where knowledge meets technology.
In Homer's "The Iliad" (750 BC), one of the oldest surviving examples of Greek literature (predating any Chinese accounts) he describes "artificial serving girls made from solid gold" in Book 18.
In Greek mythology, a giant bronze automation robot named "Talos" protected Europa (the mother of King Minos of Crete) from her enemies. Talos was 'programmed' to patrol the area three (3) times a day.
Ancient Greek mathematician Archytas (428-347 BCE) invented a self-propelled flying bird driven by steam, named the "Pigeon."
Inventor and mathematician Ktesibius (or Ctesibius) was from Greece but working in Alexandria, Egypt. He was most famous for 'improvement' of clepsydra, or water clock (250 BCE).
Other water clocks were built in ancient China, India, Babylon, Egypt, and Persia.
Muslim polymath Ismail al-Jazari (1136 CE-1206 CE) is considered the "father of robotics and modern-day engineering."
His invention of the elephant clock, a type of water clock design described in his writing, "The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices."
From French prose "Lancelot of the Lake" (1220), Sir Lancelot (from King Arthur's Round Table) set out on an adventure when he encountered a castle southwest of Camelot that was guarded by the Copper Knights bearing swords.
French architect Villard de Honnecourt describes in his sketchbook of the mid-13th century a mechanical eagle that turned its head by using a rope and pulley mechanism.
Count Robert II of Artois (c. 1300) from the French royal family, constructed Hesdin Mechanical Park, the most famous garden park in northern Europe during the late Middle Ages, resplendent with water fountains and mechanical birds.
Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci was said to have first built a mechanical lion (substantiated by eyewitness accounts) and a mechanical knight, humanoid automation, using a pulley and cable system, in the late 15th century.
Today, the da Vinci surgical system allows doctors to perform "robotic assisted, minimally invasive surgery."
The first literary example of a mechanical man can be found in Edward Sylvester Ellis' novel "The Steam Man of the Prairies" (1868), before the term 'robot' was used. It was an inexpensive science fiction dime store paperback.
American author L. Frank Baum wrote "Ozma of Oz" (1907), the first in a series of novels, where Tik-Tok is a wind-up copper robot that "does everything but live and feels no emotions."
In Homer's "The Iliad" (750 BC), one of the oldest surviving examples of Greek literature (predating any Chinese accounts) he describes "artificial serving girls made from solid gold" in Book 18.
In Greek mythology, a giant bronze automation robot named "Talos" protected Europa (the mother of King Minos of Crete) from her enemies. Talos was 'programmed' to patrol the area three (3) times a day.
Ancient Greek mathematician Archytas (428-347 BCE) invented a self-propelled flying bird driven by steam, named the "Pigeon."
Inventor and mathematician Ktesibius (or Ctesibius) was from Greece but working in Alexandria, Egypt. He was most famous for 'improvement' of clepsydra, or water clock (250 BCE).
Other water clocks were built in ancient China, India, Babylon, Egypt, and Persia.
Muslim polymath Ismail al-Jazari (1136 CE-1206 CE) is considered the "father of robotics and modern-day engineering."
His invention of the elephant clock, a type of water clock design described in his writing, "The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices."
From French prose "Lancelot of the Lake" (1220), Sir Lancelot (from King Arthur's Round Table) set out on an adventure when he encountered a castle southwest of Camelot that was guarded by the Copper Knights bearing swords.
French architect Villard de Honnecourt describes in his sketchbook of the mid-13th century a mechanical eagle that turned its head by using a rope and pulley mechanism.
Count Robert II of Artois (c. 1300) from the French royal family, constructed Hesdin Mechanical Park, the most famous garden park in northern Europe during the late Middle Ages, resplendent with water fountains and mechanical birds.
Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci was said to have first built a mechanical lion (substantiated by eyewitness accounts) and a mechanical knight, humanoid automation, using a pulley and cable system, in the late 15th century.
Today, the da Vinci surgical system allows doctors to perform "robotic assisted, minimally invasive surgery."
The first literary example of a mechanical man can be found in Edward Sylvester Ellis' novel "The Steam Man of the Prairies" (1868), before the term 'robot' was used. It was an inexpensive science fiction dime store paperback.
American author L. Frank Baum wrote "Ozma of Oz" (1907), the first in a series of novels, where Tik-Tok is a wind-up copper robot that "does everything but live and feels no emotions."
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This content was written by Camille Gizzarelli. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission. Contact Camille Gizzarelli for details.
