Famous Robots and Cyborgs is a high-octane voyage through the history of our metallic friends and foes. Dan Roberts narrates the history, strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and foibles of a plethora of fictional robots, cyborgs, and mechanical races—taking in the pronouncements of sci-fi visionaries and eminent robotics scientists along the way. Roberts guides us through the evolution of the deadly Cylons of Battlestar Gallactica in its various forms to movie classics like the mysterious Gort of The Day the Earth Stood Still, the iconic C-3PO, and of course the Terminator. We encounter crazed cybernetic killers, megalomaniac computers, living spaceships, beautiful androids, human brains in metal bodies, and ultracompetitive robot gladiators. Along the way, find answers to such questions as: Are robots capable of love? Which were the least convincing and most laughable movie robots of all time? Can robots harm humans to save themselves? And can you really destroy a deadly cyborg assassin with the force of an exploding oil tanker? Famous Robots and Cyborgs is a joyful, eclectic, informative, celebratory journey through the hi-tech world of the mechanical man (and woman). Packed full of trivia, robo-facts, controversy, history, and information on robot toys, games, films, TV, and books, it will delight the dedicated robot aficionado and the interested newcomer alike.

Robots in Popular Culture: Androids and Cyborgs in the American Imagination seeks to provide one go-to reference for the study of the most popular and iconic robots in American popular culture. In the last 10 years, technology and artificial intelligence (AI) have become not only a daily but a minute-by-minute part of American life—more integrated into our lives than anyone would have believed even a generation before. Americans have long known the adorable and helpful R2-D2 and the terrible possibilities of Skynet and its army of Terminators. Throughout, we have seen machines as valuable allies and horrifying enemies. Today, Americans cling to their mobile phones with the same affection that Luke Skywalker felt for the squat R2-D2. Meanwhile, our phones, personal computers, and cars have attained the ability to know and learn everything about us. This volume opens with essays about robots in popular culture, followed by 100 A–Z entries on the most famous AIs in film, comics, and more. Sidebars highlight ancillary points of interest, such as authors, creators, and tropes that illuminate the motives of various robots. The volume closes with a glossary of key terms and a bibliography providing students with resources to continue their study of what robots tell us about ourselves.

Mankind’s dependence on artificial intelligence and robotics is increasing rapidly as technology becomes more advanced. Finding a way to seamlessly intertwine these two worlds will help boost productivity in society and aid in a variety of ways in modern civilization. Androids, Cyborgs, and Robots in Contemporary Culture and Society is an essential scholarly resource that delves into the current issues, methodologies, and trends relating to advanced robotic technology in the modern world. Featuring relevant topics that include STEM technologies, brain-controlled androids, biped robots, and media perception, this publication is ideal for engineers, academicians, students, and researchers that would like to stay current with the latest developments in the world of evolving robotics.

People have long dreamed of creating machines that can carry out the same tasks as people. These dreams have led to the creation of many sci-fi books, movies, and shows that attempt to depict how people would live with robots, cyborgs, and androids. This compelling book traces the history of robotics as a science, while describing in vivid detail some of the most influential works in all of science fiction, including those by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Fritz Lang, Eando Binder, and Isaac Asimov. Readers will ponder intriguing questions about the ethics of how robots, cyborgs, and androids are used and treated.

As the success of the recent Transformers movies proves, the movie-going public can’t get enough of robots. Cyborgs—close kin to the robot—also continue to fascinate, appearing in several popular movie franchises. Readers will learn about the rich history of robots and cyborgs on film and television, from the robots that featured in the silent movies of the 1920s to today’s high-tech creations. Learn about the endearing R2-D2 and C-3PO, the formidable adversaries Megatron and Optimus Prime, the well-nigh unstoppable Terminator and many, many more.

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Although they entered the world as pure science fiction, robots are now very much a fact of everyday life. Whether a space-age cyborg, a chess-playing automaton, or simply the smartphone in our pocket, robots have long been a symbol of the fraught and fearful relationship between ourselves and our creations. Though we tend to think of them as products of twentieth-century technology—the word “robot” itself dates to only 1921—as a concept, they have colored US society and culture for far longer, as Dustin A. Abnet shows to dazzling effect in The American Robot. In tracing the history of the idea of robots in US culture, Abnet draws on intellectual history, religion, literature, film, and television. He explores how robots and their many kin have not only conceptually connected but literally embodied some of the most critical questions in modern culture. He also investigates how the discourse around robots has reinforced social and economic inequalities, as well as fantasies of mass domination—chilling thoughts that the recent increase in job automation has done little to quell. The American Robot argues that the deep history of robots has abetted both the literal replacement of humans by machines and the figurative transformation of humans into machines, connecting advances in technology and capitalism to individual and societal change. Look beneath the fears that fracture our society, Abnet tells us, and you’re likely to find a robot lurking there.