R.U.R. and the Vision of Artificial Life by Capek, Karel
R.U.R. and the Vision of Artificial Life by Capek, Karel

R.U.R. and the Vision of Artificial Life

A new translation of Karel Čapek's play R.U.R.--which famously coined the term "robot"--and a collection of essays...
$67.83 AUD
$67.83 AUD
SKU: 9780262544504
Product Type: Books
Please hurry! Only 39 left in stock
Author: Karel Capek
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Subtotal: $67.83
10 customers are viewing this product
R.U.R. and the Vision of Artificial Life by Capek, Karel

R.U.R. and the Vision of Artificial Life

$67.83
R.U.R. and the Vision of Artificial Life by Capek, Karel

R.U.R. and the Vision of Artificial Life

$67.83
Author: Karel Capek
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Description
A new translation of Karel Čapek's play R.U.R.--which famously coined the term "robot"--and a collection of essays reflecting on the play's legacy from scientists and scholars who work in artificial life and robotics.

Karel Čapek's "R.U.R." and the Vision of Artificial Life offers a new, highly faithful translation by Stěpán Simek of Czech novelist, playwright, and critic Karel Čapek's play R.U.R.: Rossum's Universal Robots, as well as twenty essays from contemporary writers on the 1920 play. R.U.R. is perhaps best known for first coining the term "robot" (in Czech, robota means serfdom or arduous drudgery). The twenty essays in this new English edition, beautifully edited by Jitka Čejková, are selected from Robot 100, an edited collection in Czech with perspectives from 100 contemporary voices that was published in 2020 to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the play.

Čapek's robots were autonomous beings, but biological, not mechanical, made of chemically synthesized soft matter resembling living tissue, like the synthetic humans in Blade Runner, Westworld, or Ex Machina. The contributors to the collection--scientists and other scholars--explore the legacy of the play and its connections to the current state of research in artificial life, or ALife. Throughout the book, it is impossible to ignore Čapek's prescience, as his century-old science fiction play raises contemporary questions with respect to robotics, synthetic biology, technology, artificial life, and artificial intelligence, anticipating many of the formidable challenges we face today.

Contributors
Jitka Čejková, Miguel Aguilera, Iñigo R. Arandia, Josh Bongard, Julyan Cartwright, Seth Bullock, Dominique Chen, Gusz Eiben, Tom Froese, Carlos Gershenson, Inman Harvey, Jana Horáková, Takashi Ikegami, Sina Khajehabdollahi, George Musser, Geoff Nitschke, Julie Nováková, Antoine Pasquali, Hemma Philamore, Lana Sinapayen, Hiroki Sayama, Nathaniel Virgo, Olaf Witkowski

Author: Karel Capek
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 01/16/2024
Pages: 312
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780262544504

About the Author
Karel Čapek (1890-1938) was a Czech novelist, short story writer, playwright, and essayist best known for his dystopian works. He was the author of War with the Newts, The Makropulos Affair, The Absolute at Large, The White Disease, and many other notable works.

Jitka Čejková is Associate Professor in the Chemical Robotics Laboratory at the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague. Her research focuses on how chemical engineers can contribute to artificial life research.


This title is only available via back order
Shipping & Return

Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.

Review

Related Products

Example product title
$67.83 AUD
$67.83 AUD
Example product title
$67.83 AUD
$67.83 AUD
Example product title
$67.83 AUD
$67.83 AUD
Example product title
$67.83 AUD
$67.83 AUD
Example product title
$67.83 AUD
$67.83 AUD
Example product title
$67.83 AUD
$67.83 AUD
Example product title
$67.83 AUD
$67.83 AUD
Example product title
$67.83 AUD
$67.83 AUD
Example product title
$67.83 AUD
$67.83 AUD
Example product title
$67.83 AUD
$67.83 AUD

Recently Viewed Products