This title tells the true story of the Turk, the infamous 18th-century automation. The story links an unlikely cast of historical characters, from Napoleon, Beethoven and Poe to the pioneers of the computer age, and provides an accessible way of examining the complex relationship between magic, man, mind and machine, from the Enlightenment to the computer age.
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Review
"A fascinating account." -- Daily Telegraph
"Excellent." -- Time Out
"Filled with delightful stories...a subject that is not only fascinating, but which also resonates with contemporary issues." -- The Guardian
"Gripping...a rattling good yarn told by a natural entertainer." -- Daily Mail
"This is fascination, obsession, inquiry, storytelling and literary magic at it very best." -- Simon Winchester --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"Excellent." -- Time Out
"Filled with delightful stories...a subject that is not only fascinating, but which also resonates with contemporary issues." -- The Guardian
"Gripping...a rattling good yarn told by a natural entertainer." -- Daily Mail
"This is fascination, obsession, inquiry, storytelling and literary magic at it very best." -- Simon Winchester --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Tom Standage is science correspondent of The Economist in London and author of "The Victorian Internet: the remarkable story of the nineteeth century's online pioneers" (1998) and "The Netune File: planet detectives and the discovery of worlds unseen" (2000). He lives in Greenwich.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Hugh Thomas
Format:Paperback
Non-scientists should not be put off that this might be filed under science. It's an accessible, easy read that carries you along by the scruff of the neck as Standage unveils the truth behind the 18th century chess playing automaton. Was it an early version of IBM's Deep Thought computer or merely a parlour magic trick . . . or something of both and neither? Read to the end and find out the truth, touching along the way on encounters with the likes of Napoleon, Edgar Allan Poe and Benjamin Franklin. If only history had been this gripping at school.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Robert Morris
TOP 100 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
I forget when or where but, many years ago, I first learned about a chess-playing automaton in the 19th century. In Standage's book, I have finally learned "the rest of the story." The automaton (named "The Turk") attracted a great deal of attention and generated a great deal of controversy. Benjamin Franklin apparently played a game or two against it. In fact, "The Turk" is reputed to have defeated most of Europe's chess masters during a period which extends from 1770 until 1855. It attracted the attention of countless celebrities (e.g. Napoleon Bonaparte, Edgar Allan Poe, Catherine the Great, and Charles Babbage) and indeed, "The Turk" itself became a celebrity as did its inventor, Wolfgang von Kempelen. Was it truly a technological marvel, not only able to to move chess pieces but to formulate and then follow strategies which prevailed against most of the most skilled players? Or was it a hoax? It would be a disservice both to Standage and to his reader to say much more about this book, except that it is exceptionally well-written and combines the best features of a crackerjack detective story with the skills required of a world-class cultural anthropologist. Standage is a master storyteller; he tells the story of "The Turk" within the context of the Age of Victoria when the Industrial Revolution was well-underway and indeed thriving. Great stuff!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Arthur Wyatt
Format:Hardcover
Tom Standage has taken a obscure mystery, the workings of the mechanical turk, and a made it into a thought provoking journey through 18th and 19th century history, with various asides on AI, automation, trickery and chess, which only reveals the trick in the penultimate chapter. Gripping stuff.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book
An interesting read especially for all keen chess players. A book to be added to one's library. My wife, a non-chessplayer is also keen to read it.
Published 2 months ago by kdchessnut
4.0 out of 5 stars
Impressing the Empress
One autumn day in 1769, Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria-Hungary, was being entertained by a visiting Frenchman. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Metropolitan Critic
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating page turner!
As this is a book review then, having read the book I won't give away the secret of the Mecanical Turk! I really enjoyed this account by Tom Standage. Read more
Published on 14 July 2008 by gjb
4.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful tragedy of technology
Of course, the lead role in this book is the mechanical Turk, a chess playing machine that baffled Europe around 1800. Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2008 by Christian Jongeneel
5.0 out of 5 stars
An entertaining account of an intriguing device
In an age when chess-playing computers are hardly a novelty, it might be hard to imagine just how remarkable people found Wolfgang von Kempelen's automaton. Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2008 by Mark Klobas
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