Frankenstein is a novel written by Mary Shelley when she was 19. Frankenstein remains the classic reference point in automation, and builds upon the now classic mythology of the automaton turning on its master.
The title of the novel refers to a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who learns how to create life and creates a being in the likeness of man, but larger than average and more powerful.
The story has had an influence across literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories and films. It is often considered the first fully realized science fiction novel due to its pointed, if gruesome; focus on playing God by creating life from dead flesh. [Wikipedia]
Robots categorized as: Literature
1918
Frankenstein
1921
R.U.R. – Rossum’s Universal Robots
In 1921 Karel Čapek coined the word robot in his science fiction play called R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). The word “robot” comes from the word robota meaning literally serf labor, and, figuratively, “drudgery” or “hard work” in Czech, Slovak and Polish.
The Robots described in the play are not robots in the modern sense. Rossum’s robots are biological creations engineered in the same fashion as Frankenstein’s creature as described by Mary Shelley. Čapek’s Robots are biological machines, but they are still assembled, as opposed to grown or born.
In the play the robots can think for themselves and perform manual labor. Although they seem happy to work for humans, that changes and leads to the end of the human race due to a hostile robot rebellion.
In 1921 Karel Čapek coined the word robot in his science fiction play called R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). The word “robot” comes from the word robota meaning literally serf labor, and, figuratively, “drudgery” or “hard work” in Czech, Slovak and Polish.
The Robots described in the play are not robots in the modern sense. Rossum’s robots are biological creations engineered in the same fashion as Frankenstein’s creature as described by Mary Shelley. Čapek’s Robots are biological machines, but they are still assembled, as opposed to grown or born.
In the play the robots can think for themselves and perform manual labor. Although they seem happy to work for humans, that changes and leads to the end of the human race due to a hostile robot rebellion.
1950
Speedy
In 2015, Powell, Donovan and Robot SPD-13 (aka “Speedy”) are sent to Mercury to restart operations at a mining station which was abandoned ten years before. They discover that the photo-cell banks that provide life support to the base are short on selenium and will soon fail. The nearest selenium pool is seventeen miles away, and since Speedy can withstand Mercury’s high temperatures, Donovan sends him to get it. Powell and Donovan become worried when they realize that Speedy has not returned after five hours. They use a more primitive robot to retrieve Speedy and try to analyze what happened to it. When they eventually find Speedy, they discover he is running in a huge circle around a selenium pool. (Wikipedia)
1951
Astro Boy
Astro Boy is a Japanese manga character, created by Osamu Tezuka. Asto Boy is a central character in Japanese manga and still hugely popular.
In the futurist science fiction world of Astor Boy humans and robots live in co-existence. In the story Astro Boy was created by Doctor Tenma to replace his own son, who was killed in a car accident. Astro Boy was created in the child’s image and after a detour was raised by a loving legal guardian.
In the fiction Astro Boy is often discriminated for being less than human, but the plot shows him only to be good and kind and proves his discriminators wrong. Astro Boy uses his powers for good and is a sympathetic and charming character.
Not surprisingly Osamu Tezuka drew inspiration to Astro Boy from the classic story of Pinocchio.
The Astro Boy universe has a fundamentally different underlying mythology than most western robot mythologies. Astor Boy is first and foremost the hero of the stories and although he often battles robots gone berserk the stories cast a positive view on robotics.
1942
The Three Laws of Robotics
The Russian science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov in 1942 formulated his Three Laws of Robotics in the short story “Runaround”. The three laws have to a large extent been adopted by fiction writers. The laws have also been used as guidelines for real robotic production and in formulating ethical guidelines for robot human interaction.
The laws are:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
