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The Turk : The Life and Times of the Famous 19th Century Chess-Playing Machine by Tom Standage (2002, Hardcover)

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Product Information

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. 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. Part historical detective story, part biography, The Turk 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.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Walker & Company
ISBN-10
0802713912
ISBN-13
9780802713919
eBay Product ID (ePID)
2167340

Product Key Features

Book Title
Turk : the Life and Times of the Famous 19th Century Chess-Playing Machine
Author
Tom Standage
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Chess, Inventions, General, History, Robotics
Publication Year
2002
Genre
Biography & Autobiography, Technology & Engineering, Games & Activities
Number of Pages
224 Pages

Dimensions

Item Length
8.1in
Item Height
1in
Item Width
5.7in
Item Weight
15.4 Oz

Additional Product Features

Lc Classification Number
Gv1447.S74 2002
Copyright Date
2001
Target Audience
Trade
Lccn
2001-055909
Dewey Decimal
794.1/7
Dewey Edition
21
Illustrated
Yes

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Picture 1 of 1

The Turk : The Life and Times of the Famous 19th Century Chess-Playing Machine by Tom Standage (2002, Hardcover)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Dimensions

Additional Product Features

All listings for this product

item 1 The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth-Century Chess

item 2 The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth-Century Chess

item 3 The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth-Century Chess-Playing ...

item 4 The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous 19th Century Chess-Playing Machine

item 5 The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous 19th Century Chess-Playing Machine

item 6 The Turk : The Life and Times of the Famous 19th Century Chess-Pl

item 7 The Turk : The Life and Times of the Famous 19th Century Chess-Pl

Best Selling in Books

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Clydesdale Classics Ser.: Meditations : Complete and Unabridged by Marcus Aurelius (2018, Trade Paperback)

Ugly's Electrical References, 2023 Edition by Charles R. Miller (2023, Spiral)

The End of Everything : How Wars Descend into Annihilation by Victor Davis Hanson (2024, Hardcover)

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