Product Description
Biomimetics — creating machines or materials by copying nature — is responsible for everything from non-skid shoes (based on dogs’ padded paws) to the Eiffel Tower (based on the human thighbone). This book combines in-depth information on the use of robots today, showing how bats inspire designers to create robots and letting young enthusiasts build their own flying dinosaur, complete with light-up eyes and flapping wings. Included are 32 pages of scientific discoveries, with full-color illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Robotic Bat
Great product!I both it from gooddeals and they were great with everything, very good customer service!

another wonderful robotic toy
This is the second robotic toy and book my grandson finished. The book was perfect, great info and entertaining. Putting the robotic together is challenging without being overwhelming. the bat is especially exciting when finished. He is looking foward to adding to his robotic collection.

Fun and Informative!
I have this book and it comes with a toy! This book is packed with great information about bats and the technology. It will appeal to your little naturalist while at the same time delighting all those mini-engineers!

The information is rich and concise and this book will educate your child while they play! I like it!
... Read more

Product Description
New approaches to artificial intelligence spring from the idea that intelligence emerges as much from cells, bodies, and societies as it does from evolution, development, and learning. Traditionally, artificial intelligence has been concerned with reproducing the abilities of human brains; newer approaches take inspiration from a wider range of biological structures that that are capable of autonomous self-organization. Examples of these new approaches include evolutionary computation and evolutionary electronics, artificial neural networks, immune systems, biorobotics, and swarm intelligence—to mention only a few. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the emerging field of biologically inspired artificial intelligence that can be used as an upper-level text or as a reference for researchers.

Each chapter presents computational approaches inspired by a different biological system; each begins with background information about the biological system and then proceeds to develop computational models that make use of biological concepts. The chapters cover evolutionary computation and electronics; cellular systems; neural systems, including neuromorphic engineering; developmental systems; immune systems; behavioral systems—including several approaches to robotics, including behavior-based, bio-mimetic, epigenetic, and evolutionary robots; and collective systems, including swarm robotics as well as cooperative and competitive co-evolving systems. Chapters end with a concluding overview and suggested reading.

A teacher's kit with slides and exercises is available online at http://baibook.epfl.ch/ ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A very cohearent covering of a large territory understandable even to a layperson
www.gabrielfalco.com
Concepts detailed in this text have become pillars of my thinking. Every year I purchase several textbooks to educate myself on topics that interest me. Bio-Inspired Artificial Intelligence balances delivering conceptual detail with real world integrated examples to aid in deep and successful comprehension of the topics. The text answers questions, informs and prompts one ask broader questions. Incredibly, it is actually very enjoyable to read; I think this may have to do with the good writing.
... Read more

Product Description

This hands-on, introductory book is based on widely available, custom robotics materials (Handy Board, Interactive C, LEGO Technic). Covers sensors; motors, gears, and mechanism; control; handy board design; construction techniques; DC Motor; and more. Ideal as an introduction to electrical engineering or capstone design. Also appropriate for readers interested in electrical technology robotics.

Customer Reviews (6)

A very nice introduction
I purchased this book as a 'recommended' book for a class almost nine years ago and it's still interesting.

engineering manual
After 12 years of running an engineering club, I finally found a helpful book. I work with students from 6th to 12th grades. My 8th and 9th graders have no problem following this book. As a matter of fact I can't keep it on my desk. It is frequently either checked out or on the floor with the "builder". Yes, it is a freshman college book but my kids seem to have no problems reading it. My students participate in BEST, FIRST and Botball.

Taking the next step
This book presents an introduction to various aspects of robot building and planning.It is written as an undergraduate textbook, and contains numerous exercises throughout the text.The book assumes that students and other readers will have access to Handyboards and LEGO Technic equipment, as well as a desktop PC and hobbyist-level soldering equipment.The book walks the reader through analyzing a Handyboard, how to use it, how to build custom sensors and motors, and how to write programs in assembly language.All of this information would be very useful to first-year engineering students as it would help them put theory from many of their other classes into practice.Nevertheless, most of the tasks and programs described in the book could actually be built with a standard LEGO RCX brick.On the other hand, a person who masters the material in this book would be able to take advantage of the extra sensors and motors that the Handyboard supports and build far more sophisticated robots than would be possible with LEGO Mindstorms equipment.Anyone who builds robots using LEGO equipment, whether with a Handyboard or an RCX, will find information in this book about Braitenberg vehicles, LEGO design, control theory, and robotics contests quite useful.The introduction to Assembly language in Appendix A is also presented in an easily accessible style.

Thinking about learning how to build a robot?
I found this to be an excellent introduction to how to build a fully functional, autonomous robot.This book covers everything you need to build robots using LEGO Technics (think LEGO blocks plus gears, motors, etc.) and a Handyboard, a robot brain developed to get the hard digital electronics out of the way so you can concentrate on putting together a good design with motors and sensors and software intelligence.

As someone looking for how to break into robotics without first getting bachelors in Electrical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering, this book was for me.I got the basics of the two topics covered and was able to dive right into the interesting "what can I do with my robot" scenarios.

This book also goes into some detail on inexpensive sensor components out in the electronics market and how to use them in robots.I found this to be a great source of ideas and instructions even when not creating robots using the Handyboard brain.

For those looking to dabble, be aware that this is a book best used in conjunction with real, live robot parts. (...)

A good introduction to robotics
The basic content of this book is excellent. It provides a readily accessible introduction to the principles of engineering. This book could easily be used as the text for a first year course in a unified engineering curriculum including Computer Science. The one flaw with this book is that it appears tohave been rushed out by the publisher. Many of the page references are to the wrong pages and some of the pictures are rather blurry. Finally, the instructions for creating and downloading ICB files to incorporate assembly language modules for interrupt side programming and similar purposes needs to be reworked in a future edition. I hope that a future edition will also have a chapter on electrical design and construction techniques to compliment the chapter on mechanical techniques. I also look forward to a third chapter on sensing and possibly a second chapter on control theory. Regardless, this is overall an excellent book and should be acquired by anyone interested in small robots. ... Read more

Product Description

Look ahead to the future of surgery--with the first comprehensive robotic surgery reference

Representing a landmark in the medical literature, Robotic Surgery is the first complete robotic surgery sourcebook. In its pages, you'll explore the new frontiers of robotic and remote technologies, which bring us closer to the goal of achieving the benefits of traditional surgery with the least disruption to the normal functions of the human body. The authors take you through the fundamental principles of robotic surgery and provide clear instruction on their clinical application.

Product Description

This book covers the fundamental properties, modeling, and demonstration of Electroactive polymers in robotic applications. It particularly details artificial muscles and sensors. In addition, the book discusses the properties and uses in robotics applications of ionic polymer–metal composite actuators and dielectric elastomers.

Product Description

More descriptive, less mathematical, and easier to read than other books on the subject of robotics. Provides an introduction to robotics—definition, history, description, applications, maintenance, human safety, artificial intelligence, rationale, the future. Investigates the intelligence of the robot and reviews robot sensors. Focuses on software, but devotes considerable attention to the electronics (computer hardware) of the robot. Designed to meet the needs of those with or without extensive technical background.

Customer Reviews (1)

The book was in good shape
I bought the book for my son.He was happy with it. It was in good condition. ... Read more

Product Description

This book presents a unique combination of mobile robots and embedded systems, from introductory to intermediate level. It is structured in three parts, dealing with embedded systems (hardware and software design, actuators, sensors, PID control, multitasking), mobile robot design (driving, balancing, walking, and flying robots), and mobile robot applications (mapping, robot soccer, genetic algorithms, neural networks, behavior-based systems, and simulation). The book is written as a text for courses in computer science, computer engineering, IT, electronic engineering, and mechatronics, as well as a guide for robot hobbyists and researchers.

Customer Reviews (4)

It's good but not essential
A good general coverage.

This book is a good overview of robotics design and development.My main dissapointment with it was the focus on the controller which is a commercial unit you would need to purchase in order to use the code contained in the book.The unit is expensive to say the least for what it is and I found myself deciding that I would simply adapt what I could to my own controllers and treat the volume as a general overview.

I did like it's chapter on multi-directional wheels and some of the code showed some straight forward ways of going about robot routine programming.

Overall though the book is not going to be overly useful to the robotics designer unless your hell bent on purchasing the controller it promotes.

In conclusion it's a uni students book, where the Uni will have brought a few of the controllers for the students to interface too and program.For the rest of us, it's just bits and pieces of information, where without the controller it will only be about 45% value.

Sean A. Curtin

A treasure chest of ideas
This book is a real treasure chest of ideas for an amateur robot builder. It does not show solutions in enough detail to copy them, but it points you in the right direction.

For me some of the most interesting topics covered were:
- Motorola M68332 based general purpose robot controller board,
- Introduction to different robot competitions,
- Simplified image processing solutions,
- Walking robots and evolutionary programs to control the gait,
- Examples of real life robots.

Comments to Embedded Robotics
Hi, so far the book is a little dissapointeing, because is to much centered to a commercial hardware (EyeCon) that is somewhat hard to adquiere to a group that has a very low budget for that kind of projects... but is important to have a reference. That is why it deserve a 3. But also supply a very important source of information for sensors and actuators design. That is why i gave an average of 4 stars.

Best regards, and thanks for all the effort you made for me enjoying this book.

the best book for student
After I have read the book contents, I think it is a great book fo me. From this book, I can get many new knowledge, including many field. I want this book to guide my student to take part in
robot contest. ... Read more

Product Description
foreword by Michael Arbib

"Hard to put down and necessary to know -- Arkin's book provides acomprehensive intellectual history of robots and a thorough compilationof robotic organizational paradigms from reflexes through socialinteraction." -- Chris Brown, Professor of Computer Science, Universityof Rochester

This introduction to the principles, design, and practice of intelligentbehavior-based autonomous robotic systems is the first true survey ofthis robotics field. The author presents the tools and techniquescentral to the development of this class of systems in a clear andthorough manner. Following a discussion of the relevant biological andpsychological models of behavior, he covers the use of knowledge andlearning in autonomous robots, behavior-based and hybrid robotarchitectures, modular perception, robot colonies, and future trends inrobot intelligence.

The text throughout refers to actual implemented robots and includesmany pictures and descriptions of hardware, making it clear that theseare not abstract simulations, but real machines capable of perception,cognition, and action. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Settling the bases.
This book has a very good organization and explanation of what is conceived as Behavior-based Robotics (BBR). Not only with the good theoretical explanations along with the real examples, but also for settling down into engineering research what is mostly a philosofical approach.

Excellent for standarizing, nomenclatures, and complete fundament on BBR research and works.

If anything bad can be said is the 10-years old fact, and the lack of techniques such as ANFIS and other cooperative control strategies for multiple robots.

Best to learn new robotic concept
Nous utilisons ce livre dans le but de concevoir la nouvelle intelligence de notre robot autonome (capra.etsmtl.ca). Ce livre est parfaitement bien structuré afin de bien comprendre le cheminement mental que nous devons avoir afin de développer ce concept. Il n'y a pas d'exemple directement lié à du code, mais jumelé à un livre d'exercice sur le behavior-based il vous permet une compréhension complète de bahavior-based et de son implémentation.

Overpriced and explains the obvious
The only reason I am giving this book three stars is that no other serious publication I know of discusses behavior based robotics. However, that being said, this book uses a lot of pages and costs a lot of dollars to explain a rather simple concept. It is an elegant concept, and I do take my hat off to Mr. Arkin for getting to the heart of the matter clearly and with good illustrations. But is it a concept that requires almost 500 pages? I don't really think so. Simply put, behavior-based robotics does not use an internal model of its environment. For instance, there is no programming in the robot of what a chair looks like, or what kind of surface the robot is moving on - all the information is gleaned from the input of the robot's sensors. The robot uses that information to react to the changes in its environment as those changes occur. State machines are at the heart of the design of any behavior-based robot. For example, a foraging robot would probably have four states describing its behavior in response to its sensors: wandering and looking for food, picking up food, homing towards the nest, and avoiding obstacles.
This book is a very easy read, although at times it seems repetitive. It does not really require any particular technical background in order to understand it, although to really appreciate the concept you should already be familiar with robotic design concepts.
Some really good implementations of the concepts in this book are at a website authored by Craig Reynolds. To find it, type "Steering behaviors for autonomous characters" into Google, and it should be the first address listed. Mr. Reynolds' site has a paper on his extensions of behavior-based concepts, as well as some Java applets demonstrating his methods.

Possibly the best single text on behaviour-based robotics
Outstanding introduction to the field of behaviour-based robot control. Completely accessible to the non-expert. It starts off with a good treatment of perception and action in animals as motivation. Goes on to discuss different aspects of behavioural control, including formal methods, architectures, various implementations, theoretical limitations, and so on.

I use this book as a reference, to help me with my own research into control architectures. Arkin is a leader in this field. Many (most!) of the recent research papers that I've seen cite this book. I think it should be on your bookshelf if you're a researcher or practitioner of AI.

Excellent at nothing (ok, I guess the cover is nice)
From reading this text, it is unclear whether it set out to be a review of or an introduction to behavior based robotics.Although it discusses some the most important and popular work in behavior based AI from the past 20 years, the coverage of these subjects is quite weak.Many pages are devoted to explaining the obvious or irrelevant in excruciating detail.This text is lacking in substance and is definitely not worth its...price tag. ... Read more

Product Description
Science fiction becomes science fact in this intriguing series that explores the extraordinary scientific advances modern man is making - and their impact on society, economics and our future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Intro to Robotics
This is a great introduction to robotics and science for budding scientists.There's not really enough books on robots for students.I wish this were a little longer, but it is a fun and interesting read -- especially for young scientists (who express an interest in robots).Many of the other books on robotics are very technical and too long for young readers.

This, on the other hand, is a short introduction that will excite young minds.The title is very fitting (Cool Science).

... Read more

Product Description
Whether you're just beginning with your LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set or are already an expert, you'll be inspired by these animal-like models that walk, crawl, hop, and roll!

The first part of the book introduces you to the NXT kit and reviews the parts you'll need in order to begin building. Next, you'll learn how to program with the NXT-G programming language, including how to make miniprograms called My Blocks that you can use to build larger programs. Finally, you'll learn how to build each robot and program it to act like its real animal cousins.

Learn to build and program the following robots:

• Ribbit, a jumping frog
• Bunny, a hopping rabbit
• Sandy, a walking camel
• Spiderbot, an eight-legged spider that avoids objects and walks forward and backward
• Snout, a walking alligator that opens and closes its jaws
• LEGOsaurus, a four-legged, plodding dinosaur
• Pygmy, a walking elephant that raises and lowers its head
• Polecat, a skunk on wheels that lifts its tail and shoots "darts"
• Strutter, a peacock on wheels that turns and flutters its tail feathers

Troubleshooting tips help you avoid problems like misarranged gears and incorrect programming, while a list of Internet resources is included to help guide you in further exploration with the NXT. Teachers and home educators will appreciate an appendix with helpful suggestions for using the models in the classroom.

The models in this book have been tested repeatedly -- and built successfully -- by novice builders, so all you have to do is follow the directions and watch them go. Now, let the building begin! (Note: These specific models require additional NXT/TECHNIC parts. Check out the part lists at thenxtzoo(DOT)com.) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Misleading title,description - This is for NXT Educational Version
If you buy this book, make sure you have the Educational NXT set PLUS the Educational Resource set. It is not for the regular Mindstorms NXT set that a consumer would most likely buy.

I wasn't going to rate this book so low, but an editor is on here saying that its people buying the book's fault for not researching the website to find the part list BEFORE buying the book. This is nuts. Where does it say that there even is a website to check out parts list.

Disappointing that I can't use the book without buying the $80 Educational Resource Kit and disappointing that those involved in editing this book are so rude to their customers who are PAYING for the book!

Good book. . . only if you have the parts
Even though this book is geared toward kids, I would not say it is completely "Kid friendly" especially if you just got the Lego NXT. If you want to build the frog, rabbit, or skunk you have to have the education resource kit in addition to the base kit. You will need even more parts to make the SIX other models; Fay Rhodes does tell you were to get the parts and sometimes shows you where you can substitute. In order to make the elephant, skunk, and peacock, you will need to use fishing line for the pulleys. I tried for over 30 minutes to attach the string on the skunk to get it to "spray" and I eventually gave up and tore it apart. The building instructions are not the best, the pins and other parts never fully attach.
It is hard to get the walking animals legs in alignment. I tried for 20 minutes to get the alligator to walk and it just would not work, but maybe that is because I built it wrong.

I admit, the animals are pretty cool. My favorites are the spider and the elephant.

Over all you should only get this book if you have the parts and you have some experience with the NXT.

Great book filled with creative ways to learn with LEGO MINDSTORMS
Not everyone who wants to build a robot wants it to go fast! Some teachers/students want to teach/learn about building, programming, collaboration and teamwork without being part of a competition. This books provides ideas for learning the concepts MINDSTORMS is famous for while reaching a new audience. The models are creative, educational, artistic, and lend themselves to a variety of discussions and lessons that aren't normally associated with building a robot. I definitely recommend this book. Watch what students can do!

Fantastic robots, easy to use instructions
I have had this book for a while, and I am still taken by the inventiveness and, for lack of a better term, FUN of the designs.I admit I am writing this review in large part to combat some of the wrong-headed low-rating reviews provided by others, all of whose sole complaint, it seems to me, is that THEY DIDN'T SO MUCH AS READ THE VERY FIRST PAGE OF THE BOOK (conveniently available for preview right here on Amazon) BEFORE BUYING IT.Mrs. Rhodes is very up-front about the fact that the models were designed with the expanded kit in mind, and she provides links to places where additional parts may be found, in some cases for pennies a piece.In this she is actually a fair bit more responsible than some other authors publishing in the same field.Furthermore, it seems to me that half the fun of books like Mrs. Rhodes is not just about making the given robot, but for inspiring one about the many possibilities.Simply go onto youtube and you will find a host of variant spiders, peacocks, skunks and other LEGO robots that are similar to, inspired by, but not exactly like these, because the creators saw what was done here, then took the ball and ran with it.I hope that you, review reader, might do the same.

Requires additional parts to build most of the designs
The robot designs in the book are fun, but I was quite disappointed to see that they require purchasing additional parts than are available in a normal Mindstorms NXT set.I was able to partially build a few of the robots, but found the book much less useful than I expected because of this rather serious flaw. ... Read more

Product Description

Manned space programs attract the most media attention, and it is not hard to understand why -- the danger, the heroism, the sheer adventure we as earthbound observers can imagine when humans are involved. But robotic missions deserve a respectful and detailed history and analysis of their own, and this book provides it.

Focusing on future modern spacecraft, Michel van Pelt explains the exciting life of unmanned space explorers, making the technology, design, development, operation and results of modern space probe missions understandable by lay readers.

Instead of describing one specific spacecraft or mission, Michel van Pelt offers a "behind the scenes" look at the life of a space probe: from its first conceptual design to the analysis of the scientific data returned by the spacecraft.

While most popular books on space concentrate on manned spaceflight, this book shows that unmanned space exploration is just as exciting. It demonstrates to the reader just what it takes to send a robotic spacecraft to another planet and what fascinating insight and knowledge we have gained from these probes.

**Offers an insight into the life of a space probe from concept through design to return and analysis of scientific data.

**Explains what it takes to send a robotic space probe to another planet.

**Demonstrates that unmanned space exploration can be as exciting as manned exploration.

**Provides the reader with a view of how the fascinating images and knowledge are obtained from these probes.

**Focuses on modern spacecraft and the future, rather than the history of past projects

Customer Reviews (2)

An enyoyable read
This book's about unmanned spacecraft (is there any "manned" spacecraft aside from Apollo anyway? orbiters don't count!). But in a very generic way. So much, that along the first chapters the author says a couple of times "sometimes the rovers are built this way, some other times they are built this other way", giving the impression there are a thousand rovers out there or in production. It would have been easier to exemplify with real rovers. This pattern of extreme generalization is repeated too much to my taste for a field where the number of samples (spacecraft) is very limited. Also, I was expecting to have detailed information and accountings on most spaceprobes, if not all: their scientific achievements, goals, detailed numbers. But this book is not a historical account (and I admit it's my fault to have expected that, not the author's). Rather, as the very adequate subtitle points out, it's about "how robotic spacecraft explore the solar system". And on this last statement, this book very much succeeds and it's a pleasure to follow. It begins by "dissecting" an imaginary generic space probe and explaining what each subsystem is for, and its possible variations/configurations according to mission needs (I was astonished to learn the dangers behind the radioisotope thermal generators -RTGs- and that any single technician is allowed to work on them for just 2 minutes in his entire life!).

Later on the book, the author takes us on a tour following the route of a spacecraft on the ground, from building, testing, adding instruments, and all the way through launch. Finally, he chooses a couple of missions he considers adequate examples and takes us through a detailed account of them (but just on a couple, remember this is no history book!). I particularly enjoyed the account of the Huygens probe on its ride into Titan, and the very interesting details on Ulysses. No surprise the author is an ESA guy!

The last chapter is a speculation on what awaits us in the future of spacecraft --but an insider's, well funded speculation.

All in all, and despite not being exactly what I was originally looking for, I enjoyed the book very much, as well as the fun that the author adds here and there. Summarizing, if you're looking for the nits and bits of classic missions such as the Voyagers, Vikings, etc., look elsewhere. If you want details onto how these things work in general, then you're on target.

The long arms of Man
In the beginning half a century ago there was a real dichotomy between the perception of "manned" and "unmanned" missions. These days the difference stands between "planned", i.e. mostly imagined, manned multibillion missions with men on, say Mars, and the multihundred million real missions where you have spacecraft and instruments out among the planets, moons, comets, asteroids and whatnot, with their hardworking crews in the Mission Controls here on Earth. We invade the Solar Systems with programmable senses aboard the spacecrafts, tied to our perception with unseen electronic nerve connections. The Solar System enfolded, since the beginnings half a century ago, as a collection of much more hostile places than could be imaginedduring those decades when space technology was born and developed. Fortunately the technology of guidance and control, needed by process industry as well as by ballistic missiles could be adapted tospacecrafts.
Crafts in space - crew on the gound. Thus man is not put at risk, and through the years there has been a plethora of mishaps fatal to the craft, mostly only embarrassing for their crews and patrons. Most of the places visited by our spacecraft would be wery difficult environments for man, and some of them would be positively lethal. To this day almost all - with a few exceptions - of the invaders were sent out on one-way missions. Michel van Pelt has done us all a great service in describing in layman's language how all this came to be. He also describes how the "old" Solar System gradually is superseded by a new, more complete understanding of how the diversity of worlds still underline the commonality of the physical laws governing their evolution. Thus we gain a clearer understanding also of our own place in the scheme of things.
There has been a lot going on between the first Lunas and Pioneers of the nineteen fifties and the Cassini-Huygens, Deep Space, SMART-1 and Messenger of today, it takes an exposition as "Space Invaders" to give the full scope of our "robotic" exploration, which, of course, will be going on for the foreseeable future.If anything, there should be lots of excitement still ahead.
To explain the "how" and the "when" of all this, in a volume of some 300 pages, including glossary and index, is a tall order for anyone. van Pelt has accepted the challenge and comes through with flying colours. All the salient points get covered, in a lucid prose. During the reading the "why's" of it all unfold, bit by bit. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Written from a manufacturing perspective, this book takes readers step-by-step through the theory and application techniques of designing and building a robot-driven automated work cell—from selection of hardware through programming of the devices to economic justification of the project. All-inclusive in approach, it covers not only robot automation, but all the other technology needed in the automated work cell to integrate the robot with the work environment and with the enterprise data base. Robot and other required automation hardware and software are introduced in the order in which they would be selected in an actual industrial automation design. Includes system troubleshooting guides, case studies problems, and worked example problems.Robot Classification. Automated Work Cells and CIM Systems. End-of-Arm Tooling. Automation Sensors. Work-Cell Support Systems. Robot and System Integration. Work-Cell Programming. Justification and Applications of Work Cells. Safety. Human Interface: Operator Training, Acceptance, and Problems.For those interested in Robotics and Manufacturing Automation or Production Design. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Robotics Text
very informative text, but i thought it could have included more pictures and color photographs of the various types of robots, etc. ... Read more

Product Description
What do a drought in New York and an earthquake in Seattle have to do with a "nanotube" a few billionths of a meter long at the University of Tokyo?

Our Molecular Future reveals a striking new possibility: We are on the verge of being able to protect ourselves from nature’s worst attacks. Tools such as carbon nanotubes may help us cope in ways that until now have been described as science fiction.

If we succeed, we might solve a troubling question about scientific research: Why risk it? Why risk powerful new technologies that may destroy us?

With compelling evidence, Douglas Mulhall shows that the answers to such questions may be found by focusing on what the environment does to us, rather than only what we do to the environment.

His book shows where our technologies might be heading, what may stop us from getting there, and how to use the benefits to minimize the downsides.

The good news is that we may enter a future that's so fantastic, it's unbelievable.

The bad news is that many of us don't believe it, and so we may not be ready to cope.

By revealing the threads that tie our fate to new technologies, this book helps us get ready.

First, we have to ask the right questions. Mulhall emphasizes that this book defines those questions, rather than pretending to have quick or detailed answers.

Here are examples:

Molecular technologies aren’t just confined to a few university think tanks. Nor are they confined to an elite among the superpowers, big business, or government. Their roots are embedded in the fabric of our industries, research institutes, and military. They are found in wealthy and poor nations alike. The foundations for these technologies are so pervasive that it’s hard to describe them without starting an encyclopedia.

Our Molecular Future condenses this knowledge and gives us broad overviews of who’s doing what, where. By so doing, the book shows us why these technologies pose such deep challenges to conventional thinking about business and environment.

Yet, how vulnerable is this technological juggernaut to being thrown backward or blasted down the wrong path by nature’s violent attacks?

In ninety seconds, the Great Kanto Earthquake annihilated Japan’s centralized economy in 1923. It was so severe that the country was in no shape to weather the Great Depression. Such instability helped open the door for a military government. After the military took over, war in Southeast Asia—and then the Pacific—broke out.

Might this recur today? What about similar such risks in America? What if the largest earthquake in America’s history was to hit again? Surprisingly, it didn’t occur in San Francisco, or on the quake-prone West Coast. Our Molecular Future reveals the location and the implications.

Property loss is increasing worldwide, due to unrestricted development in risky hurricane and earthquake zones. Perversely, this can actually improve economic conditions for some sectors in the short term, by fueling construction booms after disasters. Such short-term rebounds are often generated by insurance settlements.

Yet underneath, a cancer grows. This foundation for economic stability—insurance—is collapsing. Our Molecular Future reveals the depth of the situation.

To inoculate ourselves against nature’s occasional tantrums, and avoid collapse of the insurance industry, we may have to construct powerful molecular defenses. Yet, these defenses themselves may threaten our existence, due to their potential for abuse. Some say that the risks outweigh the potential gains.

So, if it’s such a risk, why go there?

Evidence suggests there may be no alternative. Our Molecular Future explains why.

By tracing disruptions of the past and advances of the present through to technologies of the future, it becomes more than a book: it's a whole new field of study; a multifaceted approach to our past, our present, and our potential futures.

Because of this, the book appeals to a wide range of readers.

Read it if you are...

...striving to understand the molecular world that we may soon live in

...wondering about your job prospects or health care in an age of disruptive technologies

...looking for ways to cope with climate extremes or natural disasters

The book also has special relevance if you’re one of these individuals:

A business or economics student: Here are ideas about what startups might flourish in a molecular economy. "Genetic computing" may make most manufacturing processes and patents obsolete.Moreover, new industries might emerge from our capacities to cope with natural hazards.

A lecturer or student in environment, natural science, and ethics. The book is a valuable supplement to course materials:

--For environment, it identifies challenges to the Precautionary Principle and the doctrine of sustainable development.

--For natural science, it summarizes new discoveries about naturally occurring climate changes and ecological disruptions that are changing our views about the stability of the natural world. --For scientific ethics, it gives an overview of the ethical questions associated with development of powerful new tools.

An executive positioning your company for the approaching molecular era. Here is information about startups that might flourish in a molecular economy.

An insurer or corporate manager who plans disaster recovery strategies. This summarizes natural risks and technologies that may alter the way that businesses prepare for them. A health care provider. Research into nanobacteria and robotic surgery may alter the way we treat disease. A scientist confronted by environmental opposition to your technologies: Here's one way out of the impasse between the life sciences and environmentalists. An environmentalist who forecasts how technology might alter the ecology: Molecular technologies and natural changes may upend the Precautionary Principle and the doctrine of sustainable development.

The book also has an extensive index and endnotes, with links to authoritative Web sites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

More like a fancy futuristic trip than an informative tome
You can see this book was written by a journalist rather than a scientist.

Yes, it contains a big deal of information, but this is casually scattered all over the text with little resemblance of order. The feeling you get is that the author searched the internet for a few weeks looking for anything he could find about future technologies and than casually slapped the lot on paper interspersing it with his own rants. I'm not saying this is what he actually did, but surely it is what it feels like.

A lot of futuristic gizmos are described but how are they really supposed to work, how likely is that they are ever really realized and when, if ever, they will be available hardly is.
So the author describes how in the future nanobots will swim in our blood vessels cleaning it from all sort of impurities. That's all good and well but how will, in practice, this bots work? How will they be built? Where will they get the energy to function from? What kind of intelligence will they have to perform their task? What are the collateral risks of such technology? When can we expect them to be available? Which scientists and researchers think building such devices is possible and which think it is not, and especially why? This kind of information is hardly present and when it is appears shallow in content and scattered seemingly at random all over the book.

If I wanted fancy scenarios rather than hard facts I would have bought a science fiction novel. As a matter of fact a lot of the gizmos the author mentions I personally already encountered in science fiction, only better explained.

Fact is, if I just wanted scattered information I would have searched the internet myself at a much cheaper cost than the book's. Nowadays most of what you need to know is online, if you buy a book you are looking for a tidy summary and/or a deeper analysis. Did this part of the present technological revolution escape such a futurist author?

Prophets of Reality
Anyone familiar with Ray Kurzweil and/or the notion of the Singularity will not be surprised by this book.The difference between Mulhall and other technological prophets is the degree of detail.Actually, the book should have been expanded into two - the first covering background and possible trends, the second dealing with societal and individual reaction and responses to this coming future.

It is a truism but the wild blue yonder never seems wild or blue or so yonder.What we now casually accept as part of everyday life - the ability to communicate with anyone at anytime, the abundance of free knowledge, the vast capabilities of computers, machines without moving parts, the merging of radio, camera, computer and telephone into a single device - this would have seemed almost miraculous even 15 years ago.I have an idea that a future in which we can have whatever we want through nanotech is still a long way off.The problem is two fold:How will such power be controlled and who will do the controlling.

This is yet another opportunity for increasing the authority of the State when, on the face of it, these creations should lead to individual empowerment.The best parts were the technical discussions, what will or will not be possible, when and how all this will come about.The preachy parts were the worst and should have been in another book.When I see the word "should" as in "what we should do is" I feel a warning.Perhaps the most poignant warning was an event that is today occurring:The forgetting of culture and the past. It seems as if our new technology has made all things new without any reference to the past.Like the Hopi (his example), we may once remember this society by our leftovers.The discussion on democracy was good but not nearly extensive enough.If we are to maintain any notion of individual worth, privacy, "rights" and community, this problem must be dealt with even as we advance.My grade:B

Great Book about Nanotechnology.
I have just finished reading this book, and i must say wow!This is a amazing read from start to end.The book goes over what Nanotechnology is now, and what possiblities are there in the future.I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading about Nanotechnology.

Get up to speed on nanotechnology and your future
If there is a better book that can get one up to speed on the ramifications of nanotechnology, then I'd like to know about it.

The media does a poor job on covering nanotechnology.Forget the media; read this book instead.

The author was on the Art Bell show recently.Three hours was not enough time to do this book and subject justice.

Art Bell fans will love this book.It covers many of the catastrophe scenarios that Art and George Noory talk about.

Art and George spend little time talking about nanotechnology.Again, read this book and you'll enjoy their next show on nanotechnology even more.

If you believe this book, then nanotechnology will change your life like nothing that has ever come before.

It's like reading a science fiction novel, only minus the fiction.

Lets use these technologies to save our future
If I had to sum up the main theme of this work, I would say it's about preservation of the human species.A large portion of this work is devoted to how humans (or our progeny) can avoid extinction by natural and man-made disaster.All other discussions seem to lead to this point in one form or another. The author believes that the underlying technologies in the title can and perhaps will provide for our salvation if we play our cards right.

The author has done his research and has a large source of information to draw from.This book gives the reader a good overview of real scientific advancements as well as other insights from prominent leaders and theorists in these fields.There are ample notes and anecdotes to give the reader the option to pursue more detailed information on the topics.

A few parts of the book drag due to some repetitiveness and some of the discussions don't appear to have a firm scientific base and don't seem too plausible, especially if you have decent scientific knowledge in the particular subject.If you are a scientist or engineer with some expertise in the fields you may find that some theories lack a firm foundation.However one theme that comes with the author's optimism is that throughout history, even the most prominent experts have been proven wrong through natural progressions and even breakthroughs!

This work is not incredibly deep or profound though quite entertaining and at times it appears to feel more like a novel than a documentary of the future.It is suitable for readers of all walks of life. ... Read more

Product Description
This book treats analysis and design of manipulations, manipulators and grippers by discussing basic concepts and fundamental formulation. It is a novel book dealing with manipulations that can be performed by robotic manipulators. The content of the book has been kept at a fairly practical level with the aim to teach how to model, simulate, and operate robotic mechanical systems. The chapters have been written and organized in a way that they can be read even separately, so that they can be used separately for different courses and readers. An Introductory Chapter 1 illustrates motivations and historical developments of robotic mechanical systems. Chapter 2 describes the analysis and design of manipulations by automatic machinery and robots. Chapter 3 deals with the Mechanics of manipulators with the aim to propose algorithms for analysis, simulation and design purposes. Chapter 4 addresses the attention to mechanical two-finger grippers and related Mechanics of Grasping. ... Read more

Product Description
Mini-invasive surgery deserves increasing attention to lower post-operative stays in hospitals and to lessen fall-off complications. This new book is devoted to surgical robotics, with a focus on technology and design issues of the remote-mode operation assistants. The investigation leads to define the technical characteristics of a CRHA, co-robotic handling appliance, to be purposely developed, to support the duty-split approach surgical planner. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

flat, sterile, tenuous, and whispering unknown
I am very angry of buying this one, and hope there is no another guy to be fooled.

Initially, I am so graved to be inspired by this expensive book, yes, a book of 45 pages (48 pages -3 blank pages) and cost you 30 bucks, not mentioned of shipping price. There must something being fantastic and amazing; especially there are few articles talking about the software implementation in this field. Unfortunately, this is mess, or saying, more worse.

The Contents are listed below:
Preface
Abstract
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Computer-Assisted Surgery
Chapter 3 The split-Duty Approach
Chapter 4 Augmented Reality Actions
Chapter 5 Conclusion
Reference
Index

First of all, the Chapter 2 tells the things you had already know.

Secondary, the Chapter 3 should be the key point that attacting you to buy. Believe it or not, except that he says "CRHA may be in KineMedic(R) arm,..., and now available with KUKA"; then, ....nothing. He also made a mistake that the surgeon did NOT need the complete autonomous arm. They want something like Da Vinci system. And, where are the algorithm or methods?

Third, chapter 4 titled as "augmented reality Actions". Well, did the authors wanna discuss something about image analysis? Wrong !! He mentioned something about task-planning operation. Every guys, who interested in robot, knows eaxactly what the "AR" means. The author miss-using the term. More worst is that what he talks about duty-mode, task-mode, etc...God! Eat me! Medical/Surgical Robot is not Industry Robot.
Though he mentioned 3 tables in page 38 and 39, and mentioned hierarchic information tree-structure as decision logic, and then, well,...again, where is the exact algorithm? or the pseudo-code? or the omparison/beneflatfit/disadvantage of the methods? or anything that biomedical engineering/computer programmer, who was delayed in project and kicked by boss, indeed desired? I really hope they teach me some tricks, but they absolute shut up like a clam.

Then, the references are also very poor. During the 34 cited references, there are 7 related to the author's previous publications. In a general situation, it is very rude and irreverent for a academic book which cited not enough of others works.

Unfortunately, because of a mistake, I cannot return this item. It means I got robbed of 30$, reading few hours, and then throw it away. ... Read more

Product Description
Robotics began as a science fiction creation which has become quite real, first in assembly line operations such as automobile manufacturing, airplane construction etc. They have now reached such areas as the ever-multiplying - medical field. Robotic surgery is now becoming highly practised in open heart, lung, and other forms of surgery. This book covers the developing stages of robotic surgery and its expectations in the medical field. ... Read more

Product Description
Niku offers comprehensive, yet concise coverage of robotics that will appeal to engineers. Robotic applications are drawn from a wide variety of fields. Emphasis is placed on design along with analysis and modeling. Kinematics and dynamics are covered extensively in an accessible style. Vision systems are discussed in detail, which is a cutting-edge area in robotics. Engineers will also find a running design project that reinforces the concepts by having them apply what they’ve learned. ... Read more