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AUTOMATON (from aurOs,self, and uiw, ...

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 48 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AUTOMATON (from aurOs,self, and uiw, to seize) , a self-moving See also:machine, or one in which the principle of See also:motion is contained within the mechanism itself. According to this description, clocks, watches and all See also:machines of a similar See also:kind, are automata, but the word is generally applied to contrivances which simulate for a See also:time the motions of See also:animal See also:life. If the human figure and actions be represented, the automaton has sometimes been called specially an androides. We have very See also:early notices of the construction of automata, e.g. the tripods of See also:Vulcan, and the moving figures of See also:Daedalus. In 400 B.C., See also:Archytas of See also:Tarentum is said to have made a wooden See also:pigeon that could See also:fly, and during the See also:middle ages numerous instances of the construction of automata are recorded. See also:Regiomontanus is said to have made of See also:iron a fly, which would flutter See also:round the See also:room and return to his See also:hand, and also an See also:eagle, which flew before the See also:emperor See also:Maximilian when he was entering See also:Nuremberg. See also:Roger See also:Bacon is said to have forged a brazen See also:head which spoke, and Albertus See also:Magnus to have had an androides, which acted as doorkeeper, and was broken to pieces by See also:Aquinas. Of these, as of some later instances, e.g. the figure constructed by See also:Descartes and the automata exhibited by Dr See also:Camus, not much is accurately known. But in the 18th See also:century, Jacques de Vaucanson, the celebrated mechanician, exhibited three admirable figures, the See also:flute-player, the See also:tambourine-player, and the See also:duck, which was capable of eating, drinking, and imitating exactly the natural See also:voice of that See also:fowl. The means by which these results had been produced were clearly seen, and a See also:great impulse was given to the construction of similar figures. Knauss exhibited at See also:Vienna an automaton which wrote; a See also:father and son named See also:Droz constructed several ingenious See also:mechanical figures which wrote and played See also:music; See also:Frederick See also:Kaufmann and Leonard Maelzel made automatic trumpeters who could See also:play several See also:marches. The Swiss have always been celebrated for their mechanical ingenuity, and they construct most of the curious toys, such as flying and singing birds, which are frequently met with in See also:industrial exhibitions.

The greatest difficulty has generally been experienced in devising any mechanism which shall successfully simulate the human voice (not to be compared with the See also:

gramophone, which reproduces mechanically a real voice). No See also:attempt has been thoroughly successful, though many have been made. A figure exhibited by Fabermann of Vienna remains the best. Kempelen's famous See also:chess-player for many years astonished and puzzled See also:Europe. This figure, however, was no true automaton, although the mechanical contrivances for concealing the real performer and giving effect to his desired movements were exceedingly ingenious. J. N. See also:Maskelyne, in more See also:recent times (1875-1880), has been prominent in exhibiting his automata, Psycho (who played See also:cards) and Zoe (who See also:drew pictures), at the See also:Egyptian See also:Hall, See also:London, but the See also:secret of these contrivances was well kept.

End of Article: AUTOMATON (from aurOs,self, and uiw, to seize)

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