How to Build an Android: The True Story of Philip K. Dick's Robotic Resurrection

By David F. Dufty, David F. Duffy, David F. Dufty

Book Overview

The stranger-than-fiction story of the ingenious creation and loss of an artificially intelligent android of science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick In late January 2006, a young robotocist on the way to Google headquarters lost an overnight bag on a flight somewhere between Dallas and Las Vegas. In it was a fully functional head of the android replica of Philip K. Dick, cult science-fiction writer and counterculture guru. It has never been recovered. In a story that echoes some of the most paranoid fantasies of a Dick novel, readers get a fascinating inside look at the scientists and technology that made this amazing android possible. The author, who was a fellow researcher at the University of Memphis Institute of Intelligent Systems while the android was being built, introduces readers to the cutting-edge technology in robotics, artificial intelligence, and sculpture that came together in this remarkable machine and captured the imagination of scientists, artists, and science-fiction fans alike. And there are great stories about Dick himself--his inspired yet deeply pessimistic worldview, his bizarre lifestyle, and his enduring creative legacy. In the tradition of popular science classics like Packing for Mars and The Disappearing Spoon , How to Build an Android is entertaining and informative--popular science at its best.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805095519
• ISBN13: 9780805095517
• Release Date: June 2012
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 8.5"