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The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous 18th Century Chess Playing Machine

The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous 18th Century Chess Playing Machine

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The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous 18th Century Chess Playing Machine

by Standage, Tom

  • Used
  • very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Very Good
ISBN 10
0802713912
ISBN 13
9780802713919
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About This Item

Paperback. Very Good.

Synopsis

In the annals of man and machine, The Turk has to rank among the most astonishing stories. In 1769, Baron Von Kempelen, engineer to the Imperial Court in Vienna, was so unimpressed by the performance of a visiting conjurer that he boasted he could do better. He built a mechanical chess-playing mannequin, dressed like a Turk, capable of beating even the Court's best players. Over the next decades, the Turk toured the courts of Europe to tremendous acclaim. Amid the craze for automata that swept Europe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as the Industrial Revolution developed, it was one of the wonders of its time: Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon were among the luminaries who lost to it. Eventually, the Turk ended up in America, where it toured for many years before being destroyed by a fire in 1854. But was it a fraud? The colorful story of the Turk involves a diverse cast of Ludwig van Beethoven, Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Babbage and many others, and encompasses the history of magic, the rise of machines, the debate over mechanical reasoning, and the early days of artificial intelligence.

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Details

Bookseller
World of Books Ltd GB (GB)
Bookseller's Inventory #
GOR003635886
Title
The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous 18th Century Chess Playing Machine
Author
Standage, Tom
Format/Binding
Paperback
Book Condition
Used - Very Good
Quantity Available
3
ISBN 10
0802713912
ISBN 13
9780802713919
Publisher
Walker & Company
Place of Publication
New York
This edition first published
April 1, 2002

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GORING BY SEA, West Sussex

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