WULOLIFE
The Clock That Never Stops: Machines, Life Energy, and the Making of Modern Science Author: Jessica Riskin Publisher: CITIC Press
The Clock That Never Stops: Machines, Life Energy, and the Making of Modern Science Author: Jessica Riskin Publisher: CITIC Press
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Description
Introduction · · · · · ·
* A masterpiece in the history of science! The American "Chronicle of Higher Education" praised it as "one of the most influential books in the past 20 years"
* From medieval clockwork robots to contemporary artificial intelligence, this book explores the origin of life. A treasure trove of books for mechanical maniacs, steampunk, mechanical fantasy, and artificial intelligence enthusiasts
*Library Journal's 2016 bestseller list
* Amazon topped the sales charts for 60 consecutive days in 2016
* Highly praised by authoritative journals such as Nature, The Guardian, and Times Higher Education, with special articles recommending it.
【Content Introduction】
The automatic mechanical dolls that have been popular since the Middle Ages have fascinated the royal families and court nobles in Europe. Missionaries even presented them as tribute to the Chinese emperor. From Jacquet-Droze's writing boy to Camplin's chess-playing robot, the images of humans and animals have been frequently made into absurd and lifelike machines, as if they have "active life". All of this stems from the popularity of the "mechanical theory of everything", which involves questions that have always troubled mankind: What is life? Can machines have life? Does the power of things come from inside or outside?
The relationship between man and machine, matter and soul has been debated for hundreds of years. The 17th century was an era of earth-shaking ideological changes. Mechanism was established as the core paradigm of modern science. The entire universe was seen as a machine, including animals and humans, but its power and spirit were still attributed to the hand of God. However, more rebellious scientists and philosophers believed that life machines have inherent kinetic energy. Modern life science is divided into two paths between these two contradictory mechanisms. Descartes, Boyle and their followers adhered to the classical passive mechanism, Leibniz and Lamarck creatively developed the active mechanism, and Darwin's theory of evolution wavered between passive and active models. This also gave rise to Richard Dawkins' "selfish gene" theory, and Schrödinger used subversive quantum mechanics to explain that life can be "ordered out of order". Mechanism has successively triggered the formation of theories and disciplines such as cybernetics, teleology, evolution, cognitive science, evolutionary psychology, and artificial intelligence. Under the linkage of the social and cultural environment, it has unfolded into a magnificent and ascendant modern scientific landscape.
Jessica Riskin has a comprehensive background in philosophy, history and scientific research. With her vivid and speculative writing style, she has creatively integrated primary sources, academic correspondence and documentary archives, and unfolded this "four-century-long debate" along the thread of the origin of life. Understanding the history of modern science is of great significance for thinking about the present and imagining the future. This work on the history of science will not only subvert our understanding of modern science, but will also become a thinking tool for us to understand cutting-edge issues such as life science, cognitive science and artificial intelligence.
【Editor's recommendation】
1. The vivid, lifelike, absurd and bizarre automatic clockwork robots will open your eyes, fascinate you and awaken the beautiful robot complex hidden in your heart. Since the 17th century, Vaucanson's mechanical duck, Jaquetdro's writing boy, Camplin's Turkish chess-playing robot, etc. have attracted generations of pilgrims. Just like the robots in "Edward Scissorhands", "Artificial Intelligence", "Ex Machina" and "Blade Runner", they will bring you unexpected surprises and touches.
2. Is the universe a machine? Can machines have life like humans? For more than 400 years, philosophers and scientists including Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Darwin, Dawkins, Schrödinger, etc. have tried to find "clues to understanding life" between machines and biological organisms. They used mechanical clocks as an analogy and produced two diametrically opposed models of life: Is life a clock that needs external forces to drive it to run, or is it a clock that runs autonomously and never stops?
3. Passive mechanism and active mechanism influence the interpretation of life sciences, which has also given rise to new theories and sub-disciplines such as cybernetics, teleology, evolution, cognitive science, evolutionary psychology, and artificial intelligence. Contradictions and debates, attempts and repetitions, theories and creations constitute a grand and speculative picture of modern science.
4. Jessica Riskin, professor of European history and history of science at Stanford University, takes us through history to understand the various possibilities of the future of life. Riskin's writing is vivid and speculative. She uses history to illustrate our modern scientific concepts, which is of great significance to the current understanding of the development of life sciences, cognitive sciences and artificial intelligence.
5. Many rare and charming illustrations reproduce the appearance of artificial robots at that time; zero-based reading threshold, enjoy the interesting stories and the charm of science.
【Experts and media recommendations】
One of the most influential books of the past twenty years… This thought-provoking exploration of the similarities and differences between humans and machines dates back more than four centuries, and Jessica Riskin's The Clock Never Stops tells us that long history with solid and rich material and entertaining and resonant writing.
——Steven Shapin (Professor at Harvard University, outstanding contemporary expert in the history of science)
In this original, tour-de-force book, Riskin tells the story of how scientists, philosophers, artists, and mechanics have wrestled with the nature of living entities on paper, canvas, workshop, and stone. From Kant, Descartes, Leibniz, and Darwin to mechanical ducks that poop, talking heads, and robots, Riskin shows us strange and familiar things in a new light, analyzing them with the elegance and skill of prose.
——Daniel J. Kevles (Professor at Yale University, author of The Baltimore Incident)
This is a profound exploration of the mystery of life. Riskin writes clearly and intelligently, and the depth of knowledge behind his words is amazing.
——Times Higher Education
Riskin's account of robots is illuminating, as she traces their history from the mechanical demons that powered churches in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance to the robots of the post-World War II era. The book is fascinating on many levels, accessible enough for lay readers yet useful enough for scholars.
——Library Journal
Riskin makes her research fascinating and illuminating by examining automata, evolution, and the birth of quantum mechanics after the Renaissance.
--"nature"
About the Author · · · · · ·
[US] Jessica Riskin
He graduated from Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley, taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Paris Institute of Political Studies, and currently teaches European history and history of science at Stanford University.
Her research interests include early modern science, political culture, and the history of scientific interpretation. Her book Science in the Age of Sensibility won the J. Russell Major Award from the American Historical Association.
Riskin believes that the debate over life models has never stopped since the birth of modern science, and it has greatly influenced the development of today's evolutionary biology, cognitive science and artificial intelligence fields.
