Adrienne Mayor is the author, most recently, of The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World and The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy, which was a finalist for the National Book Award (both Princeton). She is a research scholar in classics and the history of science at Stanford University and lives in Palo Alto, California.
"One of BookAuthority’s Three Best New Robotics Audiobooks To Read
in 2019"
"Absorbing. . . . [Mayor is] an accessible and engaging
writer."---Peter Thonemann, Wall Street Journal
"In her new book, Gods and Robots, Adrienne Mayor draws comparisons
between mythical androids and ancient robots and the AI of today. .
. . Through detailed storytelling and careful analysis of popular
myths, Mayor urges readers to consider lessons learned from these
stories as we set about creating a new world with AI. . . .
Wonderful storytelling, thorough research, and impressive
expertise."---Sarah Olson, Science
"A fascinating unpacking of ancient myths that feature robots and
other lifelike beings, some of which bear an eerie resemblance to
modern technology. . . . In her insightful analyses of these tales,
Mayor is approachable and engaging, and she infuses many familiar
stories with new energy in the context of technology. She adroitly
explores the ethical aspects of artificial life, addressing big
questions about sentience and agency through the lens of ancient
ideas. She also makes a convincing argument that these imagined
machines anticipated advances that are considered cutting-edge
today. Ultimately, she leaves readers in awe of these thinkers who
dreamed of ‘androids’ long before it was conceivable to build them.
A collection of wondrous tales that present ancient myths as the
proto-science fiction stories they are."
*Kirkus*
"The Greeks thought of everything, including sci-fi tropes such as
androids and artificial intelligence, according to this lively
study of mythology and technology. . . . Mayor’s exploration of the
endless inventiveness of the Greek imagination makes for an
engrossing read."
*Publishers Weekly*
"It is a place where megalomaniac leaders with an insatiable
appetite for knowledge develop artificial intelligence and robots
that pose grave dangers to humanity. Silicon Valley? No, Greek
mythology."---Mark Bridge, The Times
"Dr. Mayor urges top tech bosses to closely analyse the stories of
the Greeks as we close in on a future dominated by automated
technologies."---Harry Pettit, Daily Mail
"This is an excellent source book for confronting political and
technological hubris then and now, the earliest arguable traces of
modern fears."---Peter Stothard, The Spectator
"The Greeks [Mayor argues] envisioned . . . advanced technological
artifacts driven by internal machinery [and] establishes the
engineered nature of androids like Talos and Pandora. [Her] close
analysis finds echoes of real historical techniques [and] nicely
refutes those critics who might claim that artificial life achieved
through engineering was an idea beyond the conceptual horizon of
the ancients."---William A. Wilson, Weekly Standard
"[An] astonishing chronicle."---Barbara Kiser, Nature
"Adrienne Mayor entertainingly re-examines the various versions of
these myths that survive in written and visual form and speculates
about their origins."
*The Economist*
"In Gods and Robots, Adrienne Mayor describes how, more than 2,500
years before the modern computer, people told tales of autonomous
machines that could labor, entertain, kill and seduce. . . . 'The
age-old stories,' she writes, 'raise questions of free will,
slavery, the origins of evil, man’s limits, and what it means to be
human.'"---Matthew Hutson, Washington Post
"In a breezy and thought-provoking account, Mayor describes how
ancient Greek, Roman, Indian and Chinese myths expressed hopes and
fears about human-made life long before conversational robots and
computer chess champions flexed their algorithms."---Bruce Bower,
Science News
"[A] brilliant book."
*Enlightened Economist*
"In her remarkable book Gods and Robots: Machines, Myths, and
Ancient Dreams of Technology, Stanford Professor Adrienne Mayor
gives a literate and creative history of the notion of delegating
power and giving orders to man-made entities."---Michael Munger,
American Institute of Economic Research
"Beautifully written."---Candida Moss, Daily Beast
"[A] masterful retelling of ancient tales."---Clara
Bosak-Schroeder, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
"There is much to intrigue the general reader, with enough to
challenge the more academic reader."---Cath Milnes, Classics for
All Reviews
"Mayor’s account works so well . . . because she assembles . . .
fragments of images to generate a rich visual tapestry . . . The
greatest strength of Gods and Robots is that it gives us a
framework and a set of familiar stories with which we can negotiate
our own times."---Michael John Goodman, British Society for
Literature and Science
"Gods and Robots turned out to be a fascinating book on an unusual
subject."
*The Inquisitive Biologist*
"Adrienne Mayor writes jargon-free prose laced with wit."---Barry
Baldwin, Fortean Times
"The questions [Mayor] raises are significant and timely."---Ivana
Petrovic, Greece and Rome
"This is a wonderful ‘eureka’ book for anyone in search of the deep
origin story of robotics and AI . . . and a possible epiphany for
Marvel fans and science-fiction and fantasy readers looking for
more back story on their favorite superheroes."---Emily E. Auger,
Mythlore Journal
"Gods and Robots is an excellent discussion of ancient ideas of
technology and the potential such technology had to transform the
ancient world and to inform the contemporary one. . . .[this book
provides] a key introduction to the field of classical
reception."---Alan Chadwick, Journal of Classics Teaching
"Gods and Robots is an absorbing study of ancient mythological and
historical automata that explores their origins and significance in
the ancient and modern worlds. It will intrigue anyone interested
in mythology, ancient and modern robotics, and the genesis of
artificial intelligence."---Georgina J. Henderson, Technology and
Culture
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