Synopsis
The high bay at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University is alive and hyper night and day with the likes of Hyperion, which traversed the Antarctic, and Zoe, the world’s first robot scientist, now back home. Robot Segways learn to play soccer, while other robots go on treasure hunts or are destined for hospitals and museums. Dozens of cavorting mechanical creatures, along with tangles of wire, tools, and computer innards are scattered haphazardly. All of these zipping and zooming gizmos are controlled by disheveled young men sitting on the floor, folding chairs, or tool cases, or huddled over laptops squinting into displays with manic intensity. Award-winning author Lee Gutkind immersed himself in this frenzied subculture, following these young roboticists and their bold conceptual machines from Pittsburgh to NASA and to the most barren and arid desert on earth. He makes intelligible their discoveries and stumbling points in this lively behind-the-scenes work.
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About the Author
Lee Gutkind is the founder and editor of the literary journal Creative Nonfiction and a pioneer in the field of narrative nonfiction. Gutkind is also the editor of In Fact and Becoming a Doctor, the author of Almost Human, and has written books about baseball, health care, travel, and technology. A Distinguished Writer in Residence at Arizona State University, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Tempe, Arizona.
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Search results for Almost Human – Making Robots Think
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Almost Human: Making Robots Think
Published by
W.W. Norton, New York, 2007
ISBN 10: 0393058670
ISBN 13: 9780393058673
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Abacus Bookshop, Pittsford, NY, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
hardcover. Condition: Fine. 1st. 8vo, 284 pp. Fine copy in nearly fine dust jacket. Seller Inventory # 086916
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Almost Human: Making Robots Think [SIGNED COPY, FIRST PRINTING]
Published by
W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2007
ISBN 10: 0393058670
ISBN 13: 9780393058673
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Signed
Seller: MostlySignedBooks, Kensington, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Fine in fine dust jacket. SIGNED by author on half-title page (signature only). 1st edition, 1st printing, complete number line. As new. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 284 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. By the author of 'Truckin' with Sam' and 'The Veterinarian's Touch: Profiles of Life Among the Animals'. Rare signed. Where possible, all books come with dust jacket in a protective mylar sleeve, sealed in a ziplock bag, wrapped in bubble wrap, shipped in a box. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # Alibris.0005536
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Almost Human ? Making Robots Think
Published by
W. W. Norton and Company, 2007
ISBN 10: 0393058670
ISBN 13: 9780393058673
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Reuseabook, Gloucester, GLOS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
hardcover. Condition: Used; Very Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine. Seller Inventory # CHL10723885
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Almsot Human : Making Robots Think
Published by
W. W. Norton and Company, New York, 2006
ISBN 10: 0393058670
ISBN 13: 9780393058673
Used
Hardcover
Signed
Seller: JB Books, Garrison, ND, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First Edition (stated). SIGNED BY AUTHOR. FIRST PRINTING of the First Edition (stated). A close look at the latest research and advances in robotics technology, particiularly the efffort to bring machines to 'think' in a human-like manner in order to ultimately replace them in many areas. Has much interesting information on the subculture of scientists and engineers who work in this field - their interests, backgrounds, goals, and passions. Hardcover with dust jacket, illustrated, notes, 284pp. A very nice copy, the jacket neatly encased in an acid-free archival protector. Very rare in this original printing and as signed by author. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed by Author(s). Book. Seller Inventory # 00015970
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almost human; Making Robots Think
Published by
W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2006
ISBN 10: 0393058670
ISBN 13: 9780393058673
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Ground Zero Books, Ltd., Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very good. C. E. Mitchell (Author photograph) (illustrator). xiii, [1], 284, [6] pages. Illustrations. A close look at the latest research and advances in robotics technology, particularly the effort to bring machines to 'think' in a human-like manner in order to ultimately replace them in many areas. Has much interesting information on the subculture of scientists and engineers who work in this field - their interests, backgrounds, goals, and passions. Lee Gutkind is an American writer, speaker, and founder of the literary journal called Creative Nonfiction. Gutkind has written or edited more than 30 books, covering a wide range of subjects from motorcycle subculture to child and adolescent mental illness and organ transplantation. Currently he is Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Consortium for Science Policy and Outcomes and Professor at the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. In 1973, he published his first book, Bike Fever: On Motorcycle Culture. He then joined the University of Pittsburgh's Department of English faculty, where he became the first tenured professor at the university without an advanced degree. Gutkind spent six years as a "fly on the wall" researcher at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He observed scientists and students working to design, build, and test robots so advanced that they will one day be able to work alongside or, in some cases, even replace humans. Almost Human is an intense portrait of the robotic subculture and the quest for robot autonomy. In May 2007 Gutkind appeared as a guest author on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to talk about robots, the future, and his book. Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of Electronics & Communication, computer science and engineering. Robotics involves the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrates fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, information engineering, mechatronics engineering, electronics, biomedical engineering, computer engineering, control systems engineering, software engineering, mathematics, etc. This is a remarkable, intense portrait of the robotic subculture and the challenging quest for robot autonomy. The high bay at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University is alive and hyper night and day with the likes of Hyperion, which traversed the Antarctic, and Zoe, the world's first robot scientist, now back home. Robot Segways learn to play soccer, while other robots go on treasure hunts or are destined for hospitals and museums. Dozens of cavorting mechanical creatures, along with tangles of wire, tools, and computer innards are scattered haphazardly. All of these zipping and zooming gizmos are controlled by disheveled young men sitting on the floor, folding chairs, or tool cases, or huddled over laptops squinting into displays with manic intensity. Award-winning author Lee Gutkind immersed himself in this frenzied subculture, following these young roboticists and their bold conceptual machines from Pittsburgh to NASA and to the most barren and arid desert on earth. He makes intelligible their discoveries and stumbling points in this lively behind-the-scenes work. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Seller Inventory # 86566