The Defecating Duck, Or, The Ambiguous Origins of Artificial Life
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- An eighteenth-century mechanical duck that swallowed corn and grain and, after a pregnant pause, relieved itself of an authentic-looking burden was the improbable forebear of modern technologies designed to simulate animal and intelligent processes. Quaint as the Duck now seems, we remain in an age that it inaugurated; its mixed career set in motion a dynamic that has characterized the subsequent history of artificial life.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Publication date | February 10, 2023; 2003 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Riskin, Jessica |
|---|
Subjects
| Subject | Automata |
|---|---|
| Subject | Androids |
| Subject | Enlightenment |
| Genre | Text |
| Genre | Article |
Bibliographic information
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- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal license (CC0).
Preferred citation
- Preferred citation
- Riskin, J. (2023). The Defecating Duck, Or, The Ambiguous Origins of Artificial Life. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at https://purl.stanford.edu/zb803xz9154. https://doi.org/10.25740/zb803xz9154.
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Stanford University Open Access Articles
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