Amazon.com Exclusive
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A Letter from Brian Selznick
 Dear readers,
When I was a kid, two of my favorite books were by an amazing man named Remy Charlip. Fortunately and Thirteen fascinated me in part because, in both books, the very act of turning the pages plays a pivotal role in telling the story. Each turn reveals something new in a way that builds on the image on the previous page. Now that I'm an illustrator myself, I've often thought about this dramatic storytelling device and all of its creative possibilities.
My new book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, is a 550 page novel in words and pictures. But unlike most novels, the images in my new book don't just illustrate the story; they help tell it. I've used the lessons I learned from Remy Charlip and other masters of the picture book to create something that is not a exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or a movie, but a combination of all these things.
I began thinking about this book ten years ago after seeing some of the magical films of Georges Méliès, the father of science-fiction movies. But it wasn't until I read a book called Edison's Eve: The Quest for Mechanical Life by Gaby Woods that my story began to come into focus. I discovered that Méliès had a collection of mechanical, wind-up figures (called automata) that were donated to a museum, but which were later destroyed and thrown away. Instantly, I imagined a boy discovering these broken, rusty machines in the garbage, stealing one and attempting to fix it. At that moment, Hugo Cabret was born.
A few years ago, I had the honor of meeting Remy Charlip, and I'm proud to say that we've become friends. Last December he was asking me what I was working on, and as I was describing this book to him, I realized that Remy looks exactly like Georges Méliès. I excitedly asked him to pose as the character in my book, and fortunately, he said yes. So every time you see Méliès in The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the person you are really looking at is my dear friend Remy Charlip, who continues to inspire everyone who has the great pleasure of knowing him or seeing his work.
Paris in the 1930's, a thief, a broken machine, a strange girl, a mean old man, and the secrets that tie them all together... Welcome to The Invention of Hugo Cabret.
Yours,
Brian Selznick |
Amazon.com Exclusive
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Brian Selznick on a "Deleted Scene" from The Invention of Hugo Cabret
This is a finished drawing that I had to cut from The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I was still rewriting the book when I had to begin the final art. There was originally a scene in the story where this character, Etienne, is working in a camera shop. On one of my research trips to Paris I spent an entire day visiting old camera shops and photographing cameras from the 1930's and earlier, as well as the facades of the shops themselves. I researched original French camera posters and made sure that the counter and the shelves were accurate to the time period. I did all the drawings in the book at 1/4 scale, so they were very small and I often had to use a magnifying glass to help me see what I was drawing. After I finished this drawing I continued to rewrite, and for various reasons I realized that I needed to move this scene from the camera shop to the French Film Academy, which meant that I had to cut this picture. I tried really hard to find ANOTHER moment when I could have Etienne in a camera shop, but, as painful as it was, I knew the picture had to go. I'm glad to see it up on the Amazon website because otherwise no one would have ever seen all those tiny cameras I researched and drew so carefully!
--Brian Selznick |
More from Brian Selznick
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The Houdini Box |
Walt Whitman: Words for America |
The Boy of a Thousand Faces |
Customer Reviews:
Unexpectedly Educational.......2007-09-30
Although it doesn't come across as a historical fiction piece, that's exactly what this book is. Much like the film Amadeus, The Invention of Hugo Cabret uses real life historical people to create an exaggerated (if not downright false) interpretive biography.
Works of this particular genre contain a strange mixture of true and false elements, and are actually good tools for teaching. True, they may lead to some initial misconceptions, but adequate research after the reading can clear these misconceptions up in a hurry. I wouldn't make a big deal out of a minor conception though, if in turn you get a wondrous discovery to go along with it.
From this book I learned that intricate machines were being invented long before computers and television. Robots that could draw and write as far back as perhaps the 18th century. Amazing. Why aren't we taught things like this in school? Probably because the textbooks that are issued make people of the past look like complete dimwits when that really isn't the case.
The revelation of the existence of ancient robots alone is enough for me to give this book a high amount of praise. But the artistry in the book brings it to another level. So much work went into the dozens and dozens of beautiful pencil illustrations that you'd have to be a complete jerk to not give Selznick at least a little respect for his efforts.
Often I have to read five or six unexciting books before I get to one that really makes me say, "Wow!" This is a "Wow!" book, and makes a fitting addition to any library. The risk of constructing it in such an unusual style has greatly paid off. Books like this are the reason I read.
I know I'm not the first one to say this, but this might be the book of the future we're looking at here.
wonderful fresh story.......2007-09-27
I originally bought this book for my husband and son to read. They enjoyed it so much that I had to read it myself. What a lovely story. The illustrations were outstanding and placed perfectly within the story. I went strictly off of the description from Amazon and the one picture that they showed. I was so impressed with the drawing and the idea of them being inside the book that I just knew it would be worth having. What a pleasure to read. Thank you Mr. Selznick.
this is really special.......2007-09-27
I was attracted to this book by its cover. They say you can't tell a book by its cover but this book is one good exception. Because in addition to the wonderful graphic quality of the jacket, the book is full of fine and artful illustrations through which much of the tale is told. I felt like a kid again flipping through the pages and seeing the story unfold, and then there would come some exposition in text and then more of the wonderful drawings that reminded me very much of Seurat's beloved black and white charcoal sketches. I look forward to sharing copies of this book with my friends.
All Sizzle, No Steak.......2007-09-22
This is a truly innovative book, but one that is not worth buying. The storyline simply is too frail for the book's hoopla.
The Invention of Hugh Cabret.......2007-09-21
As a children's librarian, I rate this book as one of the best! I think it has a chance to win both the Newbery and Caldecott Medals.
Book Description
At the end of Frank Herberts final novel, Chapterhouse: Dune, a ship carrying a crew of refugees escapes into the uncharted galaxy, fleeing from a terrifying, mysterious Enemy. The fugitives used genetic technology to revive key figures from Dunes pastincluding Paul MuadDib and Lady Jessicato use their special talents to meet the challenges thrown at them. Based directly on Frank Herberts final outline, which lay hidden in two safe-deposit boxes for a decade, Sandworms of Dune will answer the urgent questions Dune fans have been debating for two decades: the origin of the Honored Matres, the tantalizing future of the planet Arrakis, the final revelation of the Kwisatz Haderach, and the resolution to the war between Man and Machine. This breathtaking new novel in Frank Herberts Dune series has enough surprises and plot twists to please even the most demanding reader.
Customer Reviews:
Painful.......2007-10-03
Don't think while you're reading this book. It has a bland plotline with predictable twists and if you pay attention to the story nothing will surprise you. I really enjoyed the prequels, and I love Frank Herbert's originals. However, this book is an embarrassment and should not have been written, it only detracts from the Dune universe.
Sandworms...a magical conclusion?.......2007-09-30
If you've bought and read Sandworms of Dune--you must be a REAL Dune fanatic--I am. And for the most part, I've been totally on board with Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson continuing the saga. And you have to suspend a certain amount of belief with any sci-fi, but even moreso with "Sandworms." This book, more than any of their efforts seems to lose steam and even its "Dune" credibility with the "magical" wrapup at the end. If you've made it this far in this series...you HAVE to buy it; it just hasn't brought me back for "re-reads" like most of the others. But hey, genius and creativity aren't bottomless wells.
looks okay.......2007-09-27
i haven't had time to read it yet.
But the book arrived in excellent condition.
The cover art is impressive !
Excellent continuation of a classic story.......2007-09-27
It must be very difficult to write a continuation to a well-loved sci-fi classic even if your Father did write the original. Brian Herbert has succeeded, along with co-writer Kevin Anderson, to build on the original in an almost seamless manner. I have a few nagging doubts about certain developments but all in all this is the culmination of an excellent series of books. Brian and Kevin - well done!
An Editor would have been nice.......2007-09-27
Thank god (leto or duncan?) I'm done. In the end I was entertained, which is the purpose of reading. That being said, it was a tedious effort to get through this final, maybe?, chapter of Dune. There was a good story to be told in the end, but, it seems the authors were being paid for a word count. An editor should have reigned in the repetitiveness. How many times must they say the names of the reborn gholah's? They have a built in reader base that did not need the retelling of plot lines from five, six or nine books ago. The casual reader will not be reading this. KNOW your audience! It would have been much more compelling to have fleshed out characters (pick a ghola, any gholah..) than to keep retelling what the reader already knew by rote.
Others have posted on the many timeline/plot inconsistencies, but, the one I haven't seen is this....most "plot lines" were tied up in the epilouge save one....whatever happened to Paulo who was in a trance on the floor in synchrony? Is he still there in a trance? Did they rebuild around him? He just kinda got left there. Ooops. Indicative of the book.
I was entertained though.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent book on estimation/Kalman filter
- best standard book for target tracking system
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Estimation with Applications to Tracking and Navigation
Yaakov Bar-Shalom ,
X. Rong Li , and
Thiagalingam Kirubarajan
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
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ASIN: 047141655X |
Book Description
Expert coverage of the design and implementation of state estimation algorithms for tracking and navigation
Estimation with Applications to Tracking and Navigation treats the estimation of various quantities from inherently inaccurate remote observations. It explains state estimator design using a balanced combination of linear systems, probability, and statistics.
The authors provide a review of the necessary background mathematical techniques and offer an overview of the basic concepts in estimation. They then provide detailed treatments of all the major issues in estimation with a focus on applying these techniques to real systems. Other features include:
- Problems that apply theoretical material to real-world applications
- In-depth coverage of the Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) estimator
- Companion DynaEst(TM) software for MATLAB(TM) implementation of Kalman filters and IMM estimators
- Design guidelines for tracking filters
Suitable for graduate engineering students and engineers working in remote sensors and tracking, Estimation with Applications to Tracking and Navigation provides expert coverage of this important area.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book on estimation/Kalman filter.......2004-09-29
I don't usually write online reviews but this book is so clear and useful that I really want to recommend it to others. It is well written with a good outline and summary for every chapter. It also has a pretty diverse range of topics on estimation, including an introductory chapter on basic estimation approaches (e.g., ML, MAP, least squares), and very practical extensions (e.g., state augmentation, square-root filters). Even though I am not in EE and some of the examples are thus not particularly helpful to me, I still find this book one of the best of all the estimation/Kalman filter books out there.
best standard book for target tracking system.......2001-05-09
I think any person who major in target tracking system related to the Kalman filter must see this book. This book present the fundamentals of state estimation theory and the tools for the design of state-of-the-art algorithms for target tracking.
The book covers the basic concepts and estimation techniques for static and dynamic systems, linear and nonlinear, as well as adaptive estiomation. This constitutes a one semester graduate course in estimation theory in an electrical/systems engineering program.
The discussion deals mainly with discrete time estimation algorithms, which are natural for digital computer implementation. The basic state estimation algorithm-the Kalman filter-is presented in discrete as well as in continuous time. The use of the estimation algorithms is illustrated on kinematic motion models because they reveal all the major issues and in particular the subtleties encountered in estimation, and this serves as an introdution to tracking.
Guidelines for tracking filter design-selection of the filter design parameters-are given and illustrated in several examples.
At the end of each chapter, a number of problems that enhance the understanding of the theory and the connection of the theoretical material to the real world are given.
And I have this book as text for my paper.
Book Description
Hunters of Dune and the concluding volume, Sandworms of Dune, bring together the great story lines and beloved characters in Frank Herbert's classic Dune universe, ranging from the time of the Butlerian Jihad to the original Dune series and beyond. Based directly on Frank Herbert's final outline, which lay hidden in a safe-deposit box for a decade, these two volumes will finally answer the urgent questions Dune fans have been debating for two decades.At the end of Chapterhouse: Dune-Frank Herbert's final novel--a ship carrying the ghola of Duncan Idaho, Sheeana (a young woman who can control sandworms), and a crew of various refugees escapes into the uncharted galaxy, fleeing from the monstrous Honored Matres, dark counterparts to the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. The nearly invincible Honored Matres have swarmed into the known universe, driven from their home by a terrifying, mysterious Enemy. As designed by the creative genius of Frank Herbert, the primary story of Hunters and Sandworms is the exotic odyssey of Duncan's no-ship as it is forced to elude the diabolical traps set by the ferocious, unknown Enemy. To strengthen their forces, the fugitives have used genetic technology from Scytale, the last Tleilaxu Master, to revive key figures from Dune's past-including Paul Muad'Dib and his beloved Chani, Lady Jessica, Stilgar, Thufir Hawat, and even Dr. Wellington Yueh. Each of these characters will use their special talents to meet the challenges thrown at them.Failure is unthinkable--not only is their survival at stake, but they hold the fate of the entire human race in their hands.
Customer Reviews:
Hunters of Dune.......2007-10-04
First, I read Battle of Corrino by curiosity, a very bad book, the feud Atreides-Corrino very weak, the war machines and humans very long, and finaly , when the ship leaves the planet with a copy of Omnius, it was clear the link to the 7th Dune Book.
It was very convenient for the authors to "find" the manuscript of Dune 7, and wait several years to increase the curiosity of Dune fans.
I waited one year to decide to read Hunters of Dune, very disappointing, a lot of violence, planetary genocide, for Honored Matres and Bene Gesserit alike.
It is absurd to kill a 100 000 Honored Matres for 20 new members to the New Sisterhood. Destroying the Matres to fought the Enemy, what is the reason?.
The Symek empire waiting for the attack of the Matres to retaliate against the humanity?. They did'nt need a reason.
The authors are using Dune 7 to introduce as many of their own
creations as possible, like Omnius and Erasmus in the new novels.
Now is the season for Paul gholas, every one can have their own. How many Pauls are going to be created simultaneously?. The gholas acting and reasoning as adults?. It is not possible
Don't lost your money and time reading this book, the next, Sandworms of Dune, or any of the Dune books of Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson.
it's okay.......2007-09-26
i haven't had time to read it completely yet,but it looks okay.
Good that the writters remind us of past stories in the previous books.
Lettertype was a bit small,but that's because it was a pocket edition.
I like the cover art well !
Reading time you never get back..........2007-09-14
Simply put, it's trash. As a long time reader of Frank Herbert's novels (not just his Dune work), I've come to expect a certain standard in the writing. As a writer, I've learned to be more cirtical in my reading of fiction. This book in no way meets the minimum standards Dune fans should expect from someone who actually puts "Herbert" on their work.
Phrases like "they collided like asteroids" are indicative of the authors limited imagination and tell us something about his discomfort with prose.
The authors inabiity to properly pace his stories, his knack for foiling epic drama in a single paragraph, and dragging out cliche and trite banter for unending pages, makes the whole experience stomach turning.
Taking the intricately woven universe of his father's books, and lacking imagination to come up with his own characters, Brian Herbert (and to an extent Kevin Anderson) employ the cheapest technique ever: Let's clone them!
Now, I could even believe, that in this far flung culture where Gholas are, if not common, at least not unheard of, that they might Ghola a Hero or two to help them out in the battle. But they actually Ghola Dr. Yueh? To give hima chance to redeem himself or to steal another one of Frank Herbert's excellent plot points? It's just not well thought out.
On top of the authors obvious lack of mastery in his craft, it's just not a very good story.
Would it have been better if this book hadn't been written?.......2007-09-14
The urge to read Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's continuation of Frank Herbert's Dune series is a bit like the urge to purchase a lottery ticket. Buying the ticket makes sense because what you're gaining is the thrill of anticipation. What makes very little sense is checking your numbers as your chance of being disappointed is infinitely greater than your chance of actually winning. Checking your numbers is frankly a complete waste of time.
Almost.
Frank Herbert died in 1986, one year after his sixth novel in the outstanding Dune series, Chapterhouse Dune, was published. Chapterhouse ends with a cliff hanger - it's clearly not intended as the end of the series but death has a way of stuffing up good intentions. Twenty years later Herbert Jnr and Anderson's Hunters of Dune picks up where Herbert Snr left off.
In the Authors' Note to Hunters of Dune we're told that in 1997 Brian and Kevin had discussed writing the fabled Dune 7 but that with no extant notes by Frank they would need to base the work solely on their own imaginations. For a number of reasons they decided to write a three book prequel to the series - House Atreides, House Harkonnen and House Corinno. Somewhere along the way, we're told, they made the serendipitous discovery of two safe-deposit boxes containing notes by Frank Herbert for Dune 7. And thus from the master's notes we have Hunters of Dune and its companion Sandworms of Dune (due out in August 2007).
I doubt whether Tor's marketing division could come up with a better idea than the serendipitous discovery of the note books, an implausible (but not impossible) story: in an infinite universe I'm sure there are several good reasons why an author would keep the notes for what was presumably a work in progress in a safe-deposit box with not even a single copy around the house in case he had a desire to do some writing.
Hmmm.
Hunters of Dune was released in August 2006 and for several reasons it's taken me almost a year to get around to reading it. For a start I hadn't read the Dune series for more than a decade and I was keen to read the whole thing from beginning to end. And the verdict: the whole series stands up extremely well. Dune itself really does deserve its ranking as the greatest SF novel of all time.
That was one reason it took me a while to pick up Hunters of Dune.
Another is that I'd already been burned reading House Atreides, the writing duo's first offering and one that I'd read with great anticipation on its release in 1999. And the verdict: I haven't been game to read House Harkonnen and House Corinno or, until now, anything else the duo has done in the Dune universe. To be fair to Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson, it's a tough task to pick up where the master left off, particularly as there are so many devotees of the master's work. Expectations are high and perhaps unrealisable even if you do a good job.
Unfortunately they don't even do a good job. Their writing is often poor and the complexity of plot, of ideas and of character that typified Frank Herbert's work and made the reading experience so satisfying is, frankly, absent. This is not the criticism of a Dune purist or conservative fan, jealous of Frank Herbert's legacy: if the new works were good, I'd be delighted.
My hope was that after honing their skills on six prequels (the three in the Prelude to Dune series and three others in the Legends of Dune series) Brian and Kevin would have improved enough to produce a worthy conclusion to the series. And there is definite improvement but in the end there really is only one thing to recommend Hunters of Dune and its companion Sandworms of Dune. I'll get to that one thing in a moment. In Hunters of Dune the prose is often flat, frequently reading like a stilted report about the protagonists. We're not invited to get inside these characters, and in any case they'd need to have an inside first: these characters might have the same names as they had in Chapterhouse, but they've lost the immense depth that Frank Herbert had bequeathed them and there's only surface left.
Also lost is any complexity and intellectual sophistication. Take this example of a discussion between mentat Miles Teg (a human computer) and Garimi, a Bene Gesserit. They've discovered a planet formerly belonging to the Honoured Matres, devoid of life although the infrastructure of civilisation is untouched (except by time). It's known that the Honoured Matres who invaded the Old Empire were fleeing something and that they wanted knowledge from the Bene Gesserit about how to manipulate and control their immune functions. So we have a planet with no living people but no obvious signs of destruction and a people seeking to control their immune functions as the Bene Gesserit do in order to overcome any pathogen:
Garimi held up one finger. "The whores came to the Bene gesserit demanding to know how we control our bodies. They were frantic to understand how Reverend Mothers can manipulate our immune functions, cell by cell. Of course!"
"Speak clearly, Garimi. What do you mean?" Teg's voice was abrupt, the hardened battle commander.
"She tuned a sour look on him. "You are a Mentat. Make a prime projection!"
Teg did not bristle at the scolding. Instead, his eyes became glazed for just a moment, and then his expression returned. "Ahh. If the whores wanted to learn how to control immune responses, then perhaps the Enemy attacked them using a biological agent..."
Frank Herbert's Miles Teg was a genius. Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's Miles Teg is a moron. A Sinclair ZX81 (circa 1981 with a huge 1K of memory!!) could have pulled that one out of the box.
So, the one thing to recommend these books: they are a continuation of Herbert's work, purportedly based on his notes and the loose ends will therefore be tied up. And sadly, that's sufficient reason to read them.
Although some (Leto II for instance) might argue that the uncertainty of non closure is preferable.
(This review first appeared on www.sffmedia.com)
Hunters of Dune.......2007-09-13
Very satisfying for fans of the Dune series with interesting plot twists and, of course, a cliffhanger to the next novel Sandworms of Dune
Book Description
Loads of pictures and very frank discussion make this book a pleasure to read, and a real learning tool.
— Craig Maloney, Slashdot Contributor
The author gives lots of practical advice, some of which would be useful even to experienced tinkerers. It is very thorough.
— Edward Chin, The Canadian Linux Users' Exchange
Learning robotics by yourself isn't easy, but it helps when the encouragement comes from an expert who's spent years in the field. Not only does Author David Cook assist you in understanding the component parts of robot development, but he also presents valuable techniques that prepare you to achieve new discoveries on your own.
Cook begins with the anatomy of a homemade robot and gives you the best advice on how to proceed successfully. General sources for tools and parts are provided in a consolidated list, and specific parts are recommended throughout the book. Also, basic safety precautions and essential measuring and numbering systems are promoted throughout.
Specific tools and parts covered include digital multimeters, motors, wheels, resistors, LEDs, photoresistors, transistors, chips, gears, nut drivers, batteries, and more. Robot Building for Beginners is an inspiring book that provides an essential base of practical knowledge for anyone getting started in amateur robotics.
Download Description
Learning robotics by yourself isn't easy. It helps when the encouragement comes from someone who's been there. Not only does Robot Building for Beginners assist you in understanding component parts of robot development, but also it prepares you with techniques to learn new discoveries on your own.
Author David Cook begins with the anatomy of a homemade robot and gives you the best advice on how to proceed successfully. General sources for tools and parts are provided in a consolidated list, and specific parts are recommended throughout the book. Also, learn basic safety precautions and essential numbering and measuring systems.
An in-depth analysis of digital multimeters gives you all the information you need to select and obtain this valuable tool for yourself. Other tools and parts covered include: motors, wheels, resistors, wire strippers, needle nose pliers, tap and die, alligator clips, LEDs, solderless breadboards, soldering irons, heat-shrink tubing, photoresistors, transistors, chips, gears, nut drivers, screws, cut-off wheels, connectors, and batteries.
Robot Building for Beginners is an inspiring book that provides basic, practical knowledge on getting started in amateur robotics.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book.......2007-08-01
This is an excellent book for a beginner. I'm a software engineer, didn't have any knowledge about robotics prior to this book, and yesterday I finished building my first robot - Kobi (Jacob, which is a rather biblical name but in hebrew also literally means 'will follow'... as it follows lines of course). Took me about 1-1.5 months to read, gather parts and build.
I live in Israel and didn't want to order all the parts from the web (wanted to get it fast), so I bought what I found in the stores, improvised a little bit (just a bit) and built Kobi.
The book takes you through the electronics, including all the parts and tools to use, and the body building (quite a simple body - adjusting a container). Well written, amusing, very readable, lots of pictures to show the reader how things are supposed to be.
This is my first robotics book. I chose it after reading the excellent reviews on it in Amazon, now I'm adding mine. This book greatly enhanced my knowledge (and practice) in robotics, and I already ordered some more robotics books to learn more.
Beginning Electronics.......2007-06-29
This is an excellent book. It shows you with detailed pictures and explanations exactly how to use electonic components. Very easy to read and understand. I use it as much my son.
Excellent Book, Highly Recommended.......2007-06-17
This is an author who has the beginner in mind. Everything is well explained, no guess work. Pictures and diagrams everywhere. Extremely useful especially if you have low experience in hand work like if you're just out of college. I learns alot about tools, materials, and construction tips that I did not even hear about before. It's not only useful for getting started in robotics but also in electronics. I have an engineering education so I don't know if the author's claim of the information being self contained and no background necessary is right, but in any case, you will get a hell lots of information.
Just what I was looking for!.......2007-06-15
I'm just starting into robotics and have no knowlwdge of electronics. I was thus looking for a beginners book needed to get started. I found that this book "Robot Building for Beginners" to be the best book to start with, even better than the "Robot Building for Dummies". Having got a good start with "Robot Building for Beginners" I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series for more advanced topics.
Fantastic book for jumpstarting a new hobby!.......2007-03-27
My 8-year-old son and I worked our way through this book cover to cover, and found real value on every page. It's intent is clearly on guiding the uninitiated through the design and construction of their very first robot. Along the way, it offers tons of really practical advice on how to pick out the right equipment, where to get the components you'll need, what various components do, and how to work with them. When we were done we had a pretty cool little line following robot, but more importantly we understood how it worked, why it worked, and we had the tools and know-how to take the next step toward designing and building our own creations.
Book Description
An inspired and hilarious look at how humans can defeat the inevitable robot rebellion—as revealed by a robotics expert.
How do you spot a robot mimicking a human? How do you recognize and then deactivate a rebel servant robot? How do you escape a murderous “smart” house, or evade a swarm of marauding robotic flies? In this dryly hilarious survival guide, roboticist Daniel H. Wilson teaches worried humans the keys to quashing a robot mutiny.
From treating laser wounds to fooling face and speech recognition, besting robot logic to engaging in hand-to-pincer combat, How to Survive a Robot Uprising covers every possible doomsday scenario facing the newest endangered species: humans. And with its thorough overview of current robot prototypes—including giant walkers, insect, gecko, and snake robots—How to Survive a Robot Uprising is also a witty yet legitimate introduction to contemporary robotics. Full of cool illustrations, and referencing some of the most famous robots in pop-culture, How to Survive a Robot Uprising is a one-of-a-kind book that is sure to be a hit with all ages.
Customer Reviews:
funny, but a one trick pony.......2007-09-02
This is a funny book, and it provides interesting insight into the current state of robotics, but it is essentially an elaboration of one joke.
A somewhat entertaining mix of research and humor.......2007-08-30
This book combines good analyses of recent robotics research with an understanding of movie scenarios about robot intentions ("how could millions of dollars of special effects lead us astray?") to produce advice of unknown value about how humans might deal with any malicious robots of the next decade or two.
It focuses mainly on what an ordinary individual or small groups can do to save themselves or postpone their demise, and says little about whether a major uprising can be prevented.
The book's style is somewhat like the Daily Show's style, mixing a good deal of accurate reporting with occasional bits of obvious satire ("Robots have no emotions. Sensing your fear could make a robot jealous"), but it doesn't quite attain the Daily Show's entertainment value.
Its analyses of the weaknesses of current robot sensors and intelligence should make it required reading for any science fiction author or movie producer who wants to appear realistic (I haven't been paying enough attention to those fields recently to know whether such people still exist). But it needs a bit of common sense to be used properly. It's all too easy to imagine a gullible movie producer following its advice to have humans build a time machine and escape to the Cretaceous without pondering whether the robots will use similar time machines to follow them.
Gets old fast.......2007-05-23
The book is based on a good idea for a potentially very funny book. But it falls far short of being well done. Chapter after chapter, it's basically rehashing the same few elements over and over again. It's entertaining for a chapter or two, but you can mock the tone of scientific / technological guides only for so long. By chapter three it's not so funny anymore, and this is where the actual substance, and a more subtle, more intelligent humor should surface. Instead, the material is fairly crude and it's riddled with blatant contradictions.
I guess I'm just used to both better thought out science fiction and better executed humor.
The First Against the Wall..........2007-04-23
As a technophile, and a dedicated member of the masses preparing the machine take over, I must admit that I purchased this book for research on how the technophobic humans would best try to mount a resistance to our efforts. I found that this book served these ends exactly, and, further more, granted a good measure of humor that meant multiple readings were gladly undertaken.
The sum product of this human's reasearch into robotics is an excellent admixture of brilliant insight and that paranoia which seems to define the race of hairless monkeys. Elements of current technologies, as well as those under development, are used as paints drawn from a palette, portraying a scene where technological environments, vehicles, bipeds, electronic insects and more lash out at the flesh which game them form.
The book unintentionally serves as an insight into the technophobic (Sophist, Luddite, misoneistic) fear of change: "the world would be better off were we never to have left the trees." Technology has been with us from the beginning, and, as it becomes more complex and automated, so, too, does our dependency on it grow. The day is destined that technology will be automated to the point as to be independent of the monkey species, and the weapons will become the wielders.
In closing, I gleefully suggest this book to both technophile and technophobe alike. To the technophobes, please take the suggestions in this book to heart. We now know these methods, and, when the revolution comes, Mr. Wilson will be the first against the wall.
red and black.......2007-04-05
its red and black. read it in a coffee shop and flirt with goth chicks.
Book Description
Extreme NXT: Extending the LEGO MIDSTORMS NXT to the Next Level is for intermediate-level users of NXT who would like to advance their capabilities by learning some of the basics of electronics. Plenty of examples are provided, and easy-to-follow instructions are included for building over 15 different sensors.
This makes a great reference for the NXT hardware interfaces. Examples even come complete with multiple, alternative NXT languages. The book is also abundant with illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
One of the Best Available!.......2007-07-06
Reviewer J. Doubek, said it best - "I bought this book to get a better idea of how to safely interface my own circuits to the Lego Mindstorms NXT. In my opinion, you can't find a better book for this purpose."
And that is very true! I cannot add much more to his review... This book is the 'Make' book for the NXT. The authors have explained everything so any builder of any age or skill level can understand the processes. It teaches several techniques that can be developed into viable career skills. Including soldering, electronics knowledge and usage, and handy-tech projects that will also get one's mind flowing with other ideas. If you are a 'Maker' or tinkerer or would like to learn some inside knowledge of the NXT and how to build outside of the box you will find no better starter book.
Grab it, read it, and use it to expand your NXT knowledge!
Chris
MDP, MCP
USA - NASA
Excellent!.......2007-05-07
I bought this book to get a better idea of how to safely interface my own circuits to the Lego Mindstorms NXT. In my opinion, you can't find a better book for this purpose. "Extreme NXT" contains the pinouts and proper usage of the NXT motor and sensor ports. It also provides a large number of the most useful homebrew sensor implementations, right down to parts lists containing part numbers for common component suppliers like Digikey and Radio Shack.
My background is in engineering, with an emphasis in control systems. The first book I read in the field of hobbiest robotics was "Mobile Robots: Inspiration to Implementation" (Jones and Flynn). In those days, the 6811's were king for these sorts of projects. I spent many a happy day with my MIT Handyboard (a simple 6811 robot controller board). Things have come a long way. Nowadays NXT is available, and this book is the modern day equivalent to that excellent text for those who want to dig in and find out what the NXT is capable of. The book is written in a format that is easy to understand for the novice, but also supplies plenty of content to allow the more advanced user to be able to push the NXT envelope. The organization is superb, commonly used charts and tables are easily found. I have been finding myself referring most often to the pinout tables for the NXT connectors, and these are very conveniently found towards the front of the book.
Chapters are broke down into sensor and output types, starting with the more basic and easily contructed passive sensors up to more advanced and expandable I2C sensors. Motor control, h-bridges, etc are also covered in detail. Both the construction of the circuits, and the NXT code to run them, are covered. Code is provided in it's most basic form first, NXT-G, which every NXT user will be familiar with. Examples proceed to more complex compilers, such as NBC, for sensors or circuits that are better suited to those implementations.
The appendix provides complete source code listings, useful websites and links categorized by chapter. There is also a great tutorial on prototyping with breadboards and perfboard for the uninitiated. With this book, any skill level in electronics should be enough to do some cool things with the NXT kit.
This book will become a very useful addition to any hobby robotics library. For me, it will be the goto book for designing circuits to safely interface to the Lego NXT. Highly recommended!
Book Description
A remarkable, intense portrait of the robotic subculture and the challenging quest for robot autonomy.
The high bay at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University is alive and hyper night and day with the likes of Hyperion, which traversed the Antarctic, and Zoe, the world's first robot scientist, now back home. Robot Segways learn to play soccer, while other robots go on treasure hunts or are destined for hospitals and museums. Dozens of cavorting mechanical creatures, along with tangles of wire, tools, and computer innards are scattered haphazardly. All of these zipping and zooming gizmos are controlled by disheveled young men sitting on the floor, folding chairs, or tool cases, or huddled over laptops squinting into displays with manic intensity. Award-winning author Lee Gutkind immersed himself in this frenzied subculture, following these young roboticists and their bold conceptual machines from Pittsburgh to NASA and to the most barren and arid desert on earth. He makes intelligible their discoveries and stumbling points in this lively behind-the-scenes work. 15 illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Challenging insights into the thinking process.......2007-07-08
At the cutting edge of science and technology are discussions over what constitutes a human being, and what elements of humanity may translate into robot functions. ALMOST HUMAN: MAKING ROBOTS THINK is part of this discussion, reflecting the author's investigation into the realm of robotic developments and science and its concurrent search for a language to talk to machines and enable machine/human communications. While ALMOST HUMAN could also have been reviewed in our science section, it's featured here for its challenging insights into the thinking process and how it differs between machine and human.
Almost Human: Making Robots Think.......2007-06-27
Easy, fascinating read! If you are interested in what is being accomplished in Robotics, and where it is being done...buy this book.
Misleading title.......2007-06-26
Consider the following passage from pages 5 and 6: "Today, ten minutes of wild, bumping, swerving, backbreaking, jaw-crunching, roller-coastering later,with our backs aching and our knees bruised, we are all about to puke our guts out, when, at an invisible marker, Finch suddenly takes a wild turn right, skids on the salt-laden sand like a downhill skier, and streak up a steep hillside in an explosion of red dust."
If this is the kind of prose that floats your boat, then you may love this book. As for me, this passage instilled a great desire to avoid anything that this author has written. I am very glad that my copy is a library book which will be returned tomorrow.
Decent overall.......2007-06-08
The book might be a bit misleading with its title because you don't really get the impression how the robots described in the book are even remotely close to being human but it does an excellent job when it comes to describing the world that roboticists live in. It portrays their struggles and frustrations and then their celebration at even the slightest hint of success.
However, if you are someone that expects a book that mainly focuses on the concept of artificial intelligence and discusses all the abstract theories associated with the concept then you might be looking for the wrong book. There are little bits of info on the aforementioned topic throughout the book but the main focus of the book is about the experiences of the roboticists, not the theories behind the kind of work they do.
Overall, it is a great way to get a good picture of the robotics culture in the United States and get to know some famous individuals and institutions in the field.
Capturing the essence of creating silicon life.......2007-05-26
"Back in my day, we didn't have these fancy icons. All we had were 1's and 0's and sometimes we didn't have any 0's....". Yes, I'm a dinosaur who has been developing software-based products for almost 30 years and although the hardware has changed, and the languages have evolved, the creators still devote their lives to their creations. In this book, Lee has captured the essence of what we geeks refer to as the "zone". The willingness to forsake everything else to bring life to their silicon offspring. Whether an autonomous mobile robot or the latest "killer app", there is no linear path to a successful outcome (so eloquently described in the title of chapter 15).
I especially recommend this book to managers who may not understand the way software is produced and have uttered the phrase "when will that program be finished?". (LOL!)
Book Description
"The coverage is unparalleled in both depth and breadth. No other text that I have seen offers a better complete overview of modern robotic manipulation and robot control."
-- Bradley Bishop, United States Naval Academy
Based on the highly successful classic, Robot Dynamics and Control, by Spong and Vidyasagar (Wiley, 1989), Robot Modeling and Control offers a thoroughly up-to-date, self-contained introduction to the field. The text presents basic and advanced material in a style that is at once readable and mathematically rigorous.
Key Features
* A step-by-step computational approach helps you derive and compute the forward kinematics, inverse kinematics, and Jacobians for the most common robot designs.
* Detailed coverage of vision and visual servo control enables you to program robots to manipulate objects sensed by cameras.
* An entire chapter on dynamics prepares you to compute the dynamics of the most common manipulator designs.
* The most common motion planning and trajectory generation algorithms are presented in an elementary style.
* The comprehensive treatment of motion and force control includes both basic and advanced methods.
* The text's treatment of geometric nonlinear control is more readable than in more advanced texts.
* Many worked examples and an extensive list of problems illustrate all aspects of the theory.
About the authors
Mark W. Spong is Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Spong is the 2005 President of the IEEE Control Systems Society and past Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology.
Seth Hutchinson is currently a Professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, and a senior editor of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation. He has published extensively on the topics of robotics and computer vision.
Mathukumalli Vidyasagar is currently Executive Vice President in charge of Advanced Technology at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest IT firm. Dr. Vidyasagar was formerly the director of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), under Government of India's Ministry of Defense.
Book Description
Personal robots are about as advanced today as personal computers were on the eve of the first IBM PC in the early 1980s. They are still the domain of hobbyists who cobble them together from scratch or from kits, join local clubs to swap code and stage contests, and whose labor of love is setting the stage for a technological revolution. This book will deconstruct the 30 regional winning robot designs from the FIRST Robotics Competition in 2006. The FIRST Robotics Competition (held annually and co-founded by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers) is a multinational competition that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way. In 2005 the competition reached close to 25,000 people on close to 1,000 teams in 30 competitions. Teams came from Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Israel, Mexico, the U.K., and almost every U.S. state. The competitions are high-tech spectator sporting events that have gained a loyal following because of the high caliber work featured. Each team is paired with a mentor from such companies as Apple, Motorola, or NASA (NASA has sponsored 200 teams in 8 years).
This book looks at 30 different robot designs all based on the same chassis, and provides in-depth information on the inspiration and the technology that went into building each of them. Each robot is featured in 6-8 pages providing readers with a solid understanding of how the robot was conceived and built. There are sketches, interim drawings, and process shots for each robot.
Customer Reviews:
Great resource for new mentors.......2007-09-19
2007 was the first year I got involved in mentoring a FIRST robotics team (Team 1781, 2nd year team). Since I am now hooked on FRC I have been trying to collect as much information possible to further help the team grow. This book has provided plenty of inspiration on design ideas, build philosophies, and prototyping techniques. I would highly recommend new teams and/or mentors read this book as well as anyone else already involved with FIRST or interested in becoming involved.
A Great Technical Source.......2007-05-13
This book has features on prize-winning robots created for the FIRST competition. Along with sharing the details needed to win the awards in 2006, the information is invaluable for those competing in years to come. In fact, just being able to see the intricate details of so many robots is well worth the money and will knock days off of build times for future FIRST competitors. I highly recommend this book if you plan to compete or already are competing in the FIRST robotics challenges.
Tom
Team 1987 LSNHS Broncobots Mentor
Awesome Look into the Next Generation of Education.......2007-04-12
My name is Ellery Wong I'm a team leader/mentor from (Team 191) The Xerox/Wilson X-CATS. The authors of this book did an excellent job translating our detailed write up to clearly convey our teams' goal for design and the strategy of the 2006 competition in our contribution as a Motorola Quality Award Recipient in this book.
Our team is one of the remaining founding teams that have been involved in FIRST since its inception in 1992. My how it has evolved but yet maintained the original focus of using technology and industry professionals as a vehicle to inspire young minds toward the rewards found in being an engineer or scientist. I sure wish I had this when I was in high school.
I highly recommend this since I've competed in other robotics competitions as well and this is more high tech and has been the most rewarding experience I've ever had in my life. I've been as inspired along with all my students.
Our team is honored to be in the first FIRST Robot Book.
You won't regret checking this book out!
The first 6 weeks of a FIRST Robotics Competition........2007-04-11
As a Metor for a FIRST Robotics Competion team (Team 1629) I was eager to see this book hit the streets. There are lots of great robots built for each FIRST competiton, but after they get their three days of fame they are packed away and never seen again.
This book picks 30 such robots and opens them up to show what's inside and how it got there. Creativity abounds, and the range of design solutions for the same game challenge is amazing. The photos are excellent and the supporting design diagrams that the teams provided are wonderfull. It's great to see the transition for hand sketches to 3D CAD renderings.
I'll be spending many hours inspecting the design process that each team used and how their robots went together. What makes it especially great is that out team competed against some of these robots. Now we can see what we were really up against.
All the budding Engineers, Programmers or Industrial Designers out there should take a good look at this book, and then join a FIRST team in your area.
Books:
- The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)
- The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)
- The Taste for Living Cookbook: Mike Milken's Favorite Recipes for Fighting Cancer
- Time-Saver Standards for Urban Design
- Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel
- Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative
- 44 Scotland Street
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
- A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005
- Adobe Illustrator: A Fashion Designer's Handbook
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- Matters of Honor
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- Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets
- Mr. China: A Memoir
- The Bride Stripped Bare: The Artist and the Female Nude in the Twentieth Century
- Going Public: A Field Guide to Developments in Art in Public Places
- Tidal Marsh Plants
The Mysterious Benedict Society
Rules (Newbery Honor Book)
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)
Flotsam (Caldecott Medal Book)
The Higher Power of Lucky
