The heritage of the technology which now runs the world was to put it mildly eclectic, with huge gaps in time and space. Before the first electrician was born, the earliest reference to a "robot" was in ancient China, in the form of an organic robot given by an "artificer" called Yan Shi to King Mu of Zhou around 1000BC. The robot was made of leather and glue with actual human organs, and not entirely surprisingly ceased functioning when the organs were removed. The first Western robot, in the form of a steam powered pigeon, said to be capable of flight, was invented by Archytas of Tarentum in 350BC.
Photo: br1dotcom
Da Vinci, Voltaire, and Vaucanson's duck
Between 1500 and 1800, odd mechanical marvels were springing up all over Europe. Leonardo Da Vinci was the next known robot designer after the ancient period, inventing a mechanical man in knight's armor. John Dee of England invented a flying wooden beetle during the Elizabethan era. Another machine was Vaucanson's "Digesting Duck" in 1739, which was able to annoy real ducks, quack, "eat" grain, and produce fake feces. The duck was even referred to by Voltaire, albeit rather cryptically- "Without the duck of Vaucanson, you have nothing to remind you of the glory of France".
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