booktheque

Clockwork game

Jane Irwin · 2013

Where to buy

Check today’s price on Amazon. We do not show prices because they change daily.

View on Amazon

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

About the book

In 1769, the court of Empress Maria Theresa witnessed one of that era's most amazing feats of engineering: a machine that could play chess. Artfully constructed by a Hungarian nobleman named Wolfgang von Kempelen, the chess machine played a unique game against each opponent, far surpassing the abilities of all its fellow automata. Throughout its eighty-five year career, audiences across Europe and the Americas flocked to see the mechanical marvel seemingly capable of human intelligence; Napoleon, Charles Babbage, and Benjamin Franklin were among its challengers, and Edgar Allen Poe wrote an essay attempting to explain how it worked.

Book details

Year
2013
Language
English
Editions
1
Pages
211
ISBN
9780974311029

Data source: Wikidata