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In 1770, a nimble-minded inventor named Wolfgang von Kempelen unveiled an extraordinary machine he had built. It was a life-size mannequin seated behind a cabinet, atop of which sat a chessboard. After exposing the machine’s innards to the audience (to prove that no human operator hid inside) and winding its spring, the machine sprang into action, and soundly beat a volunteer chess player from the audience. That was but its first victory of many. It went on to tour Europe, beating the large majority of players who challenged it, including some famous and skilled individuals such as Benjamin Franklin.
From the Wired article:
There are obvious similarities to the rise of the computer era in modern times. The creations of Vaucanson, Kempelen, and their contemporaries are arguably the ancestors of almost all modern machinery; automata occupied the same intersection of technology, entertainment, and commerce that computers do today. Then, as now, many people were ambivalent about the new machines. On one hand, they were fascinated – public exhibitions of automata were wildly popular in London and Paris during the 18th century – but they were also concerned that humans might end up being superseded. Just as science fiction movies of the 1960s featured evil robots and computers, 18th-century books and plays explored the dramatic possibilities of thinking machines, or of people concealed inside boxes and pretending to be machines. While many of these stories were straightforward comedies or romances, a darker mood was also abroad: The Turk’s tour of Europe coincided with the Luddite riots and Mary Shelley’s publication of Frankenstein.
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Note that this was a hoax– a person was hiding in the box.
-BL
Bryan Lowder said: “Note that this was a hoax– a person was hiding in the box.”
Well, yes. But the Wired article keeps one in suspense until near the end, and I hoped to preserve that. The Wikipedia article comes right out and calls it a hoax from the beginning, but I figured that most would read the Wired article first.
Alan Bellows said: “Well, yes. But the Wired article keeps one in suspense until near the end, and I hoped to preserve that. The Wikipedia article comes right out and calls it a hoax from the beginning, but I figured that most would read the Wired article first.”
Golly. Sorry, Alan.
-BJL
Bryan Lowder said: “Golly. Sorry, Alan.”
It matters not. Most people will read the links from the front page before reading the comments, anyway. I was just pointing out that I wasn’t ignorant of the fact that it was a hoax.
I guess I’m not most people, I read the links last heh. For some reason I get the image of that bugs bunny cartoon where he is hiding mugsy in a oven. While mugsy hides inside, bugs blows him up trying to convince a cop he isnt in the oven. Just replace the cop with old Ben Franklin and Bugs with Wolfgang. That would be entertaining.
Enter your reply text here. OK
Good stuff. Time travel 2 years into the future to 2007 T.V. “The terminator uses the “Turk” name for a computer on the show. I had to read the interesting but (credible) wired science stuff to understand the story above.
////////////////Even though Charles Babbage agreed with Willis that the Turk was a hoax, ……….. A few years after its fiery……… (burned in a building fire) ……………… demise, nobody was terribly surprised when the truth emerged: The chess player had indeed been controlled by a concealed operator using a clever system of folding partitions to remain hidden while the automaton’s interior was open to view.//////////////////////////
Enjoy the conclusion.
ps: I avoid wiki like a lying ex-girlfriend. Wait there, a, I am too lonely to have gotten a lying ex-girlfriend. But I still avoid wiki to avoid listing to a lying girl.
Must have been quite a good chess player anyhow, to beat all those people…. :)