RUR (Rossum’s Universal Robots) | Jerz's Literacy Weblog RUR (Rossum’s Universal Robots) RUR [ Intro & Summary | Image Archive | Review ] R.U.R. was written in 1920, premiered in Prague early in 1921, was performed in New York in 1922, and published in English translation in 1923. The following year, G. B. Shaw and G. K. Chesterton were among those in London participating in a public discussion of the play. Capek responded, via The Saturday Review, to what he felt was the excessive thematic attention they and other critics paid to one of his devices: “For myself, I confess that as the author I was much more interested in men than in Robots.” [1] Virtually every encyclopedia or textbook etymology of the word “robot” mentions the play R.U.R. Although the immediate worldwide success of the play immediately popularized the word (supplanting the earlier “automaton”), it was actually not Karel Capek but his brother Josef, also a respected Czech writer, who coined the word.

The Czech word robota means “drudgery” or “servitude”; a robotnik is a peasant or serf. Although the term today conjures up images of clanking metal contraptions, Capek’s Robots (always capitalized) are more accurately the product of what we would now call genetic engineering. The play describes “kneading troughs” and “vats” for processing a chemical subst itute for protoplasm, and a “stamping mill” for forming Robot bodies. A more imaginative and scientifically plausible description of the artificial creation of armies of workers would have to wait for Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932). [2] The translator (Paul Selver) changed the play quite a bit while preparing the English version, combining two Robot characters into one, and considerably toning down the ending. If you’re interested in reading the play as it was originally presented to American audiences, read the 1920s version (most university libraries will have a copy — it was tremendously popular in its day).

In the 1990s, a new translation, with much better dialogue and a chilling new final speech (new to English audiences, anyway) by the Robot Damon, was published in a Capek reader called Toward the Radical Center (with a short introduction by Arthur Miller). Plot Summary (spoilers) In R.U.R., the idealistic young Helena Glory arrives at the remote island factory of Rossum’s Universal Robots, on a mission from a humanitarian organization devoted to liberating the Robots. From Domin (sometimes translated as “Domain”), she receives a compressed account of the company’s father-and-son founders (who do not appear in the play). The mad inventor Old Rossum was bent on usurping the role of the Creator by artificially reproducing a man in painstaking detail, while the practical industrialist Young Rossum produced a stripped-down version of humanity to be sold as inexpensive workers: Domin : Practically speaking, what is the best kind of worker? Helena : The best? Probably the one who– who– who is honest– and dedicated. Domin : No, it’s the one that’s the cheapest.

The one with the fewest needs… [Young Rossum] chucked out everything not directly related to work, and [in] doing that he virtually rejected the human being and created the Robot. (41) Mass-produced by Robot-run assembly lines, Robots remember everything, and think of nothing new. According to Domin, “They’d make fine university professors.” Rejecting Helena’s theory that Robots have souls, the psychologist Hallemeier admits that once in a while, a Robot will throw down his work and start gnashing his teeth. The human managers treat such an event as evidence of a product defect, but Helena prefers to interpret it as a sign of the emerging soul. Domin rather inexplicably asks Helena to marry him. She accepts, but continues working to help the Robots by requesting that a scientist modify some Robots, so that their souls might develop more fully. One of the modified creatures is a Robotess, beautiful but useless. The scientist speculates that if the Robotess (named after her spiritual mother Helena) were to “wake up,” she would hate him for making her so beautiful, yet giving her a body that cannot know love or give birth.

The human Helena begins identifying with hothouse flowers — sterile because they are artificially cultivated, satisfying a consumer demand that nature fulfills too slowly on her own. Meanwhile, human fertility has been dropping worldwide; industrial civilization’s drive towards order and mechanization has made mankind superfluous. The price would appear to be the gradual extermination of the human race; but one of Helena’s specially modified Robots issues a manifesto: “Robots of the world, you are ordered to exterminate the human race… Work must not cease!” Domain possesses Old Rossum’s formula for producing Robots — a bargaining tool he hopes to use to ensure the freedom of the humans holed up in the factory. Helena, who has been kept ignorant of the real threat the Robots propose, decides to burn the formula, on the theory that halting the production of the Robots will halt the spread of economic and political collapse. The Robots swarm onto the stage, killing all the humans, leaving only Alquist — the only human at the factory who still works with his hands. The Robot leader Damon plans to populate the earth: “We will give birth by machine. We will build a thousand steam-powered mothers. From them will pour forth a river of life. Nothing but life!

Nothing but Robots!” This dream, spoken by Damon (a demon?) echoes the dream of Domin (Dominus, the Lord?) — both hope to use machinery to improve upon the work of nature. Without the all-important manuscript, however, the Robots discover “The only thing we cannot produce is Robots. The machines are turning out nothing but bloody chunks of meat.” [3] They cajole, threaten and beg Alquist to help them discover what they call “the secret of life.” In desperation, Damon offers himself up for study; screaming on the dissection table, he orders Alquist to continue the search. Nature eventually re-emerges triumphant when two Robots (the beautiful but otherwise useless Helena, and Primus) fall in love. The play ends on an uplifting, religious note. Alquist blesses the lovers, renames them Adam and Eve, and sends them out to avoid the sins that destroyed their predecessors. Links This video of a Flight of the Conchords song spoofs the science-fiction conventions that RUR deeply embedded in our culture; I’d rate the video PG-13 for language.

Reciprocal Links (Archived) I am no longer actively updating these links, but someone from the BBC’s My Science Fiction Life contacted me and asked me for a link. The page she sent me taught me something I didn’t know about RUR, so here’s the link. Alpha Ralpha Boulevard. “Karel Capek.” Alpha Ralpha Boulevard: Science Fiction Bibliographies < >. Added Dec. 15, 1999. Anonymous Coward. “Re:Origin of “Robot” clarification – A bit more.” [Comment appended by user to a slashdot posting by “JohnKatz”.] Dec. 20, 1999. Added Dec 27, 2000. Artificial Intelligence Learning Group. “Robot links” [list of links] Institutt for datateknikk og informasjonsvitenskap. < > Added Dec. 21, 2000. Bowser, Randy. “Word from the Director.” Metropolis the Musical [Publicity website.] < > Added 22 May 2002. Blackstock, Jon. Suite101.com.

“Hairy Ape Part 1.” 23 Jun 2000. < > Added 18 Sep 2000. Cooper, Charles. “Make that ‘check’, not ‘checkmate’.” C|Net. 10 May 2002. < > Added 13 Jun 2002. Currie, Adam. Adam’s Robot Page. < ~currie/roboadam.htm >. Added 14 Oct 1999. Dallas Personal Robotics Group. “Robotics Related Web Sites” [list of links] < > Added Dec. 21, 2000. Fitton, Robert B. “Science Fiction… pump… a primer.” The Fitton Chronicles [e-book author’s website] < >. Added 17 Feb 2002. Grupo de Robotica. [Organization home page.] December 20, 2000. Universitat de Lleida. Added Dec. 21, 2000. Grupo de Sistemas y Comunicaciones. “Introduccion.” [Curricular site.] October 5, 2000.

Departamento de Ciencias Experimentales e Ingeniería. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. < > Added Dec. 21, 1999. Imaginautes.com. “Les réponses à la question 18.” June 25, 2000. Imaginautes. < > Added Dec. 15. Jerz, Dennis G. [Translator unknown.] “Le règne des robots.” Le Encyclopedie de L’Agora. –Le_regne_des_robots_par_Karel_Capek Added Dec. 21, 2000. Jerz. Dennis G. “Capek’s Dystopian Robots and O’Neill’s Demonic Dynamo: The “Natural Man” in Technological Society” [Abstract of a conference paper.] 1996< ~djerz/rur-dyn.htm > Jones, Karl. “RUR or RU Not My Baby?” [personal web page ] June 2, 2000. Karl Jones web. < Added Dec. 27, 2000. K2robots.com. “Robot Stories.” [List of links] 1999-2000.

< > Added 21 Dec 1999. “Linkkejä tulevaisuusajattelun historian” [Unknown.] < > Added 27, 2000. Liukkonen, Petri. “Karel Capek (1890-1938).” Webmaster, Pesonen, Ari. Author’s Calendars. 2000. 1 Apr 2001. < Added 03 Apr 2001. Lucas, G.W. Rossum’s Playhouse. < ~gwlucas/ >. Added 03 Dec 1999. Mataric, Maja J. “USC-CSCI445 Introduction to Robotics Homepage” [Curricular page.] University of Southern California. < ~csci445/otherlinks.html > Added 27, 2000. mentifex. “Philosophy of the Mind: The Mentifex Dossier.” Jan. 13, 2001. < ~mentifex/ > Added Dec. 21, 2000. McMillan, Gloria. Hypertext Classics.

“Rossum’s Universal Robots.” University of Arizona. < ~gmcmilla/capek.html > Added 03 Dec 1999. New York Public Library. “Utopia”. [list of links] < > Added Dec. 21, 2000. Novosielski, Ryan. “Works Cited.” RoWaCo [Proposal for robotic elimination of waste from geese] BergenNet < ~dialee/ISTF/workscited.html > Added Dec. 15, 1999. Ramesh, Amit. “Lecture #1: The Big Picture.” [Curricular site.] Maja Mataric,USC. < ~csci445/cs445notes/lecture1.html > Added Dec. 15, 1999. Rapaport, William J. “Bookmarks for William J. Rapaport.” State University of New York at Buffalo. < > Added Dec. 15, 1999. —–. “CSE 111: GREAT IDEAS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE: Directory of Documents. [Curricular site.] State University of New York at Buffalo.

< ~rapaport/111F00/directory.html > Added Dec. 15, 1999. Shackelford, Lee. “‘R.U.R.’ at UAB.” Sep 2001. < > Added 02 Oct 2001. Talon Radio. [Official site for a UK radio presenter who dresses up as an android.] “Talon’s Links to Robot Movie and Book Fan Sites.” < > Added May 22, 2002. Witfelt, Claus. “RoboLab Mindstorms Links.” . < > Added Dec. 21, 2000. yahoo.com. “Yahoo!

Arts Humanities Literature Authors Literary Fiction Capek, Karel (1890-1938)” [Web directory.] Authors/Literary_Fiction/Capek__Karel__1890_1938_/ Notes [1] Capek’s obituary in Newsweek (January 2, 1939) said of R.U.R.: “Although he believed it the least interesting of all his works, it brought him greatest fame.” [2] In Brave New World, factories stimulate the budding and multiplication of selected fertilized ova, and then deliberately stunt the development of the embryonic humans. When “decanted” and conditioned for service, the lower orders make the undamaged elite appear to be supermen. [3] “The skin does not stick to the flesh and the flesh does not cling to the bones.” Damon’s lament reverses the Biblical miracle of the enfleshment of the dry bones in the desert.

13 Jun 1999 — first posted 1999-2002 — ongoing minor edits 08 Oct 2002 — page redesigned 04 Sep 2011 — updates and redesign Capek, Karel | Article about Capek, Karel by The Free Dictionary Capek, Karel | Article about Capek, Karel by The Free Dictionary Related to Capek, Karel: Josef Capek Čapek, Karel (kä`rĕl chä`pĕk) 1890–1938, Czech playwright, novelist, and essayist. He is best known as the author of two brilliant satirical plays—R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots, 1921, tr. 1923), which introduced the word robot into the English language, and The Insect Play, written with his brother Josef Čapek, Josef , 1887–1945, Czech writer and painter. He collaborated with his brother Karel on a number of plays and short stories.

On his own he wrote the utopian play Land of Many Names (1923, tr. 1926) and several novels. ..... Click the link for more information. (1921, tr., 1923). These plays embody Čapek's criticism of technological and materialistic excesses. Of his other plays The Makropoulos Secret (1923, tr. 1925) satirizes the human search for immortality and yearning for titanistic greatness. Janáček used it as the basis for his opera The Makropoulos Affair (1925). Čapek's Power and Glory (1937, tr. 1938), condemns totalitarianism and war. He also wrote travel sketches, romances (e.g., Krakatit, 1924, tr. 1925), essays, and short stories. His three volumes of conversations with Thomas G. Masaryk Masaryk, Thomas Garrigue , 1850–1937, Czechoslovak political leader and philosopher, first president and chief founder of Czechoslovakia.

He is revered by most Czechs and was internationally recognized as a great democratic leader. ..... Click the link for more information. (1928–35, tr. 1934, 1938) form a political biography. Čapek's three philosophical novels, Hordubal (1934, tr. 1934), Meteor (1934, tr. 1935), and An Ordinary Life (1935, tr. 1936) are profound and even mystical in tone. Distinct from his other works, they constitute Čapek's masterpiece. Bibliography See biography by I. Klima (2002); studies by W. E. Harkins (1962) and B. R. Bradbrook (1998). Čapek, Karel Born Jan. 9, 1890, in Malé Svatoňovice; died Dec. 25, 1938, in Prague. Czech writer. Čapek graduated from the faculty of philosophy of Charles University in 1915. He was first published in 1907.

Most of his early stories, dating from the years 1908 to 1913 and later included in the collections The Garden of Krakonos (1918) and The Luminous Depths (1916), were written with his brother Josef Čapek. The tragic events of World War I caused Čapek to undertake an intense search for the criterion of truth, to meditate on philosophical problems, and to seek the source of life’s contradictions—as evidenced in the short-story collections Crucifixion (1917) and Money and Other Stories (1921). In such works Čapek came close to expressionism. At the same time, however, he came under the influence of pragmatism and relativism; specifically, he was influenced by the notion of a multiplicity of truths, or the idea that “everyone is right in his own way.” Rejecting revolutionary struggle, Čapek tended toward moral and ethical humanism.

Many of his works, including the poetic comedy The Robber (1920), are based on the juxtaposition of several “truths.” Čapek conceives, as it were, of various alternatives simultaneously, but without relinquishing his own ethical ideal. Čapek achieved world fame through his socially oriented works of science fiction, as represented by the play R. U. R. (1920) about a robots’ rebellion (the word “robot” was coined by Čapek), the play The Macropoulos Secret (1922), and the novels The Absolute at Large (1922) and Krakatit (1924; English translation under the title An Atomic Phantasy, 1948). On the assumption that a discovery or invention can rapidly alter mankind’s living conditions, Čapek’s science fiction constructs a kind of imaginary sociophilosophical experiment, creating an artificial situation in which certain philosophical problems and modern trends are made particularly evident. Much of Čapek’s work is critical of inhumanity, militarism, and the church; nevertheless, the elemental nature of bourgeois socioeconomic processes is presented by him in absolute terms as a common feature of human development.

Čapek’s plays and novels are ironic and satirical utopias, warning against the danger of dehumanizing trends and the catastrophic potential inherent in contemporary social and international conflicts. His writings, while tending toward realism, occasionally show evidence of preconceived philosophical ideas. Čapek’s travel sketches of the early 1920’s, such as Letters from Italy (1923) and Letters from England (1924), are outstanding for their realistically picturesque characterizations and poetic humor. In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, Čapek was close to T. G. Masaryk; the writer’s bourgeois democratic illusions gained in strength, the marks of crisis grew more pronounced in his work—for example, in the play Adam the Creator (1927), which he wrote with his brother. Withdrawing temporarily from large-scale social and political problems and conflicts, Čapek now concentrated on writing short humorous works, such as those collected in Tales From Two Pockets (1929). His Apocrypha (1932) is a collection of humorously philosophical reinterpretations of familiar stories from the Bible.

The intensification of social conflicts and the “brute doctrine” of fascism revealed to Čapek the unfoundedness of the idea that “everyone is right in his own way.” His philosophical victory over relativism is reflected in his trilogy—Hordubal (1933), Meteor (1934), and An Ordinary Life (1934). Faced with the renewed threat of war, Čapek turned toward active antifascism and voiced his criticism of Czechoslovakia’s ruling circles. He openly expressed his sympathies toward the USSR. Čapek’s highest achievement was the novel The War With the Newts (1936), in which his traditional protest against the dehumanization of human relationships is channeled into a satire against bourgeois society, against militarism, and against the racist theories and policies of fascism. The novel combines the characteristic mystifications of science fiction and the genres of the animal parable, fictional social utopia, and political pamphlet.

Čapek’s antifascism and antimilitarism and his search for the ideal “whole man,” capable of struggle, shaped the content of the play Power and Glory (1937), of the novel The First Rescue Party (1937), and of his last play, Mother (1938). The suffering that Čapek experienced as a result of the Munich Pact of 1938, along with his persecution at the hands of fascist and profascist elements during the “second republic,” aggravated the writer’s ill health and hastened his death. Čapek’s work has been an important influence in modern social science fiction and represents a notable contribution to classic world literature. There are two Čapek museums in Czechoslovakia—the suburban Čapek house Na Strži and the memorial museum at the writer’s birthplace. WORKS Karel Čapek Karel Čapek Czechoslovakia ( 1890 - 1938 ) Best known for his play R.U.R. -- (Rossum's Universal Robots).

The mechanical robot (a term coined by Čapek from the Czech word "robota" meaning drudgery) opened up a whole new world of Science Fiction, as well as adding a word to the English Language. Karel Čapek is widely considered the greatest Czech author of the first half of the twentieth century. A novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and essayist, he was a strong dissident voice during the period of fascist buildup in Europe between the World Wars. He wrote a number of satires, as well as the utopian fantasy novel War with the Newts. He died in 1938. Karel Capek | Czech writer | Britannica.com Czech writer Milan Kundera Karel Čapek, (born Jan. 9, 1890, Malé Svatoňovice, Bohemia , Austria-Hungary [now in Czech Republic]—died Dec. 25, 1938, Prague , Czech.), Czech novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and essayist. The son of a country doctor, Čapek suffered all his life from a spinal disease, and writing seemed a compensation.

He studied philosophy in Prague, Berlin, and Paris and in 1917 settled in Prague as a writer and journalist. From 1907 until well into the 1920s, much of his work was written with his brother Josef, a painter, who illustrated several of Karel’s books. Almost all Čapek’s literary works are inquiries into philosophical ideas. The early short stories—in Zářivé hlubiny (with Josef, 1916; “The Luminous Depths”), Krakonošova zahrada (with Josef, 1918; “The Garden of Krakonoš”), and Trapné povídky (1921; in Money and Other Stories, 1929)—are mainly concerned with man’s efforts to break out of the narrow circle of destiny and grasp ultimate values. Another series of works presents Čapek’s “black utopias,” showing how scientific discoveries and technological progress tempt man into titanic rebellions.

Thus, in the play R.U.R .: Rossum’s Universal Robots (published 1920, performed 1921), a scientist discovers the secret of creating humanlike machines that are more precise and reliable than human beings. Years later the machines dominate the human race and threaten it with extinction, though at the last moment it is saved. For this play Čapek invented the word “ robot ,” deriving it from the Czech word for forced labour. Other works, following the pattern of R.U.R., include the novel Továrna na absolutno (1922; The Absolute at Large); Krakatit (1924; An Atomic Phantasy); and Válka s mloky (1936; The War with the Newts). In another vein, Čapek’s comic fantasy Ze života hmyzu (with Josef, 1921; The Insect Play) satirizes human greed, complacency , and selfishness, emphasizing the relativity of human values and the need to come to terms with life. His faith in democracy made him support his friend Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and write a biography of him.

The quest for justice inspired most of the stories in Povídky z jedné kapsy and Povídky z druhé kapsy (both 1929; published together as Tales from Two Pockets). The problem of identity and the mystery of people’s underlying motivations are the theme of Čapek’s most mature work, a trilogy of novels that together present three aspects of knowledge. Hordubal (1933) contrasts an inarticulate man’s awareness of the causes of his actions with the world’s incomprehension; Povětroň (1934; Meteor) illustrates the subjective causes of objective judgments; and Obyčejný život (1934; An Ordinary Life) explores the complex layers of personality underlying the “self” an “ordinary” man thinks himself to be. Britannica Stories Karel Capek | Prague.net Karel Capek Capek, considered a leading literary and journalist figure of the First Republic, gained worldwide recognition, being also a 1936 Nobel Prize nominee.

He is probably best known for coinage of the word robot, which was actually coined by his brother Josef, only Karel used it for the first time in a stage play, R.U.R (1921). A large section of his work was connected to the philosophical system of pragmatism. He often introduces a simple story, which gets complicated by numerous possible approaches of the people involved. The first famous example is Hordubal, essentially a crime story of a worker, who returns to a Czech village after years of hard labour in the US. Since he kept sending money to his wife and exhausted himself for her sake, he expects her to welcome him with joy. The wife, however, has already found a lover and the husband becomes a burden that is hard to bear. His consequent murder is, at first, seen as an act of betrayal and self- centred cynicism. But Capek goes offers also the wife’s and the lover’s point of view and the picture gets complicated. It becomes clear that the husband himself is also to blame for lacking empathy, for having things for grated that his wife spends years in solitude, waiting for him the saviour to return.

Another example is Meteor, in which three hospital employees construct separate versions of what might have led to the fact that a nameless, nearly- dead man ended up on their unit. The various points of view cannot be seen in a hierarchy. Each is valid and the truth is beyond reach. There is no objective truth of an event, of human actions. Such an assumption may seem nihilistic, but Capek was the contrary. He was passionate about humanism, democracy, rule of law and respect among citizens. The point may rather be: it’s not essential to seek the “objective truth” for it can’t be found, but there are principles and individual right which have to be respected. Everyone has the right for an opinion and in the end the principles are what matters, not necessarily the facts. He was a very active author, his work consisting of many short stories, novels, stage plays and hundreds of feuilletons. His reportage work was also published and mainly his notes on the United States became very popular. As for ideology, he was considered a liberal. He admired the Western democracies, especially that of the US. His idea of Czech greatness was not defined against other nations in a competition, but rather in cooperation with the rest of the world.

Strongly influenced by Masaryk, he also published a book of interviews he made with the president. The later years of his work were shaped by the evolution of German Nazism. He presented metaphors of the Nazi threat, often in quite a direct, appellative manner. No surprise he was high on the Nazi’s death list and surviving until the occupation he would undoubtedly end up in a concentration camp, like his brother. He died of pneumonia shortly after the Munich agreement. He remains one of the few Czech authors that remain enormously popular and admired. Not that there would be a consensus about his work. Some critics say his work merely reflected the literary trends of his time. He may have been more of an excellent craftsman than an original author and he did surely tend to please the public. Whether that’s right or wrong is up to everyone’s point of view. J410 class site // people // The Life of Karel Capek Capek goes to elementary school in the town of Upice. For two years he went to a local middle school.

1901 In the fall, he moved with his grandmother to Hradec Kralove, the principal town of Eastern Bohemia, where he attends junior high school and the first two years of high school. 1905 In the summer Capek is expelled from the high school for taking part in an illegal students club. In the fall Capek moves to Brno, where he lives close to his sister, Helena. 1907 He stays in Brno for two years and moves to Prague along with his parents, where he starts the final two years of high school at the prestigious Academic High School in the fall. 1909 Capek graduates with all A's in June. 1909 In September Karel Capek and his brother, Josef, go to Munich, where they stay for a month. In October, Karel Capek signs up at the Charles University of Prague for courses on philosophy. 1910 Capek goes to the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. 1911 The first half of his third year of his University studies takes place at the Charles University, the other one at the Sorbonne of Paris.

After the end of the semester there, Capek travels a bit around France and returns to Prague, where he continues studies for three more years. 1915 On Nov. 29 Capek graduates as master of philosophy. The same year, Capek isn't enlisted to fight in World War I because of back problems, which followed him throughout his life. Early works 1917 Capek becomes a member of the board of editors of the Narod (Nation) magazine. Along with his brother, he becomes an editor of the cultural section with the Narodni listy (the National paper). Both brothers work at the satirical weekly Nebojsa (the Unafraid). Capek along with his brother and some other editors resign in protest of the paper's politics. Capek publishes his first important work, a play called R.U.R., which stands for Rossum's Universal Robots. In this play Capek first used the word "robot," invented by his brother, Josef, from the verb "robotovat," archaic for working. 1920 Capek makes acquaintance with Olga Scheinpflungova, an actress who would become his wife.

1921 In April Capek and his brother become editors of Lidove Noviny (The People's Paper). In September Capek becomes a dramatic adviser to the prestigious Kralovske Vinohrady Theater. Olga Scheinpflungova performed in this theater. 1922 Capek meets with the president of Czechoslovakia, Tomas Garrique Masaryk, whom he soon befriended. In August, Capek threatens to resign from the dramatic adviser post in protest of actor rehiring by the National Theater, the best Czech theater of that time. The situation improves, and Capek stays. In November Capek moves to a bigger flat where he now lives alone. It is at that time that the tradition of meetings of intellectuals of all opinions on Fridays at Capek's place is born. It went on until Capek's death. 1923 In April Capek resigns from the dramatic adviser post and goes on a two-month medical visit to Italy. 1924 In April Capek's mother dies. Capek visits England in June and July at the occasion of the Penclub conference and the British Imperium Exhibition.

1925 In January Capek sets up a committee that will help set up the Czechoslovak Penclub. In the same month Capek visits Tomas Garrique Masaryk at the Prague Castle, the Czech presidential residence. He is elected the chairman of the Czechoslovak Penclub in February. In May Capek is elected to the Czech Academy of Sciences, but soon resigns. In September, both Capek and his brother, who is by that time a well-known and respected cubist artist, enter the newly established National Workers Party, he runs for a seat in the parliament, but the party fails, doesn't get a single seat and ends in a few years. 1926 During the summer holiday, Capek stays at the presidential summer residence in Topolcanky, Slovakia. On New Year's Eve, Capek organizes a party in the presence of President Masaryk in which he satirizes the Czech political scene. 1927 In July, Capek takes part in Czech writers' tour to Paris, where he meets with France's cultural and political elite. He stays at the presidential residence in September and October. On Oct.

28, on the Czech Independence Day, Capek and his brother get the Czech national award for drama for the play Adam Stvoritel (Adam the Creator). 1928 Capek publishes the first part of the series of interviews with the president called Talks with Tomas Garrique Masaryk. 1929 Capek's father dies in April. The 1930s 1930 In June Capek gets elected into an advisory board for the affaires of the National Theater. 1931 In January Capek is elected by The Committee for the development of mental cooperation by the Society of Nations, the predecessor to the UN, into the Committee for literature and arts. He is re-elected chairman of the Czech Penclub in March. Capek takes part in a worldwide conference of Penclubs in The Hague, Holland, then travels around Holland. In July, Capek takes part for the first time in the Committee of the Society of Nations. Capek also publishes the second part of the Interviews: Part 2: Life and work. 1933 In February Capek starts up a huge discussion in the cultural press about the nature and function of critique.

In March, Capek resigns the Czech Penclub chairmanship. 1934 In November Capek signs a Czech writers' petition against organized Nazi disturbances. 1935 In June at the worldwide Penclub conference in Barcelona, Spain, Capek gets nominated for the worldwide Penclub chairmanship by the standing chairman, H.G. Wells, but Capek immediately resigns. In the summer Capek participates at an international conference of writers' organisations for the defense of culture in Paris. In July Capek travels to Italy to the Dolomites, where he asks Olga to marry him. Capek and Olga Scheinpflungova get married in Prague on Aug. 16, 1935. In October, Capek gets nominated into the committee that awards the State Prizes for literature. 1936 Capek takes part in a Symposion organised by the Committee by the Society of Nations in Budapest. In November the Norweigan press nominates Capek for the Nobel prize for literature. The year 1938 The German nationalists started in coordination with Hitler civil unrest in the border regions. Germans infiltrated the border and attacked Czech police and army.

Hitler demanded better treatement for the German minority in Czechoslovakia although the minority laws in Czechoslovakia were one of the best in the world at that time and definitely better than the German ones. On September 30, France and Britain signed, along with Italy and Germany, the Munich treaty by which Czechoslovakia is ordered to leave the border regions to Germany. For that Germany will not attack the rest of Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia didn't participate. In March 1939 Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia, thus breaking the Munich treaty. In June, Capek participates at the World Penclub meeting in Prague. There he warns all the participants of the imminent German threat. On Sept. 12, Capek writes the Czechoslovak writers' note to all the world in which they explain the Czechoslovak politics towards Germany. On Sept. 30, Capek writes the Czech writers' memento To the Consciousness of the World. In November, Capek is offered the possibility to leave the country and go to England into exile.

Capek chooses to stay with the nation althoough he knows that after the Germans invade the rest of the country, he will be one of the first to be arrested. In December, Capek suffers from heavy flu and inflammation of the kidneys. Compiled from information gathered by Dominik Zunt. What is a Robot? Etymology and History | Wyzant Resources Robots History of the word robot The term robot was coined by the Czech playwright Karel Capek (CHAH pek) from the Czech word for forced labor or serf. Capek was reportedly several times a candidate for the Nobel prize for his works and very influential and prolific as a writer and playwright. Fortunately, he died before the Gestapo got to him for his anti-Nazi sympathies in 1938. Capek used the word Robot in his play R.U.R. (Rossums Universal Robots) which opened in Prague in January, 1921, a play in which automata are mass-produced by an Englishman named Rossum.

The automata, robots, are meant to do the worlds work and to make a better life for human beings; but in the end they rebel, wipe out humanity, and start a new race of intelligent life for themselves. Rossum comes from a Czech word, rozum, meaning reason, and intellect. The popularity of the play diminished the use of the old term automaton and robot has replaced it in just about every language, so that now a robot is commonly thought of as any artificial device (often pictured in at least vaguely human form) that will perform functions ordinarily thought to be appropriate for human beings. The play was an enormous success and productions soon opened throughout Europe and the US. R.U.Rs theme, in part, was the dehumanization of man in a technological civilization. You may find it surprising that the robots were not mechanical in nature but were created through chemical means.

In fact, in an essay written in 1935, Capek strongly rejected the idea that it was at all possible to create such creatures and, writing in the third person, said: It is with horror, frankly, that he rejects all responsibility for the idea that metal contraptions could ever replace human beings, and that by means of wires they could awaken something like life, love, or rebellion. He would deem this dark prospect to be either an overestimation of machines, or a grave offence against life. The Author of Robots Defends Himself  Karel Capek, Lidove, June 9, 1935, translation: Bean Comrad. As stated earlier, references state that robot was derived from the Czech word robota, meaning work, while others suggest that robota actually means forced workers or slaves. This latter view would certainly fit the point that Capek was trying to make because his robots eventually rebelled against their creators, ran amok, and tried to wipe out the human race.

In the days when Czechoslovakia was a feudal society, robota referred to the two or three days of the week in which peasants were obliged to leave their own fields to work without remuneration on the lands of noblemen. For a long time after the feudal system passed away, robota continued to be used to describe work that one wasnt exactly doing voluntarily or for fun, while todays younger Czechs and Slovaks tend to use robota to refer to work that is boring or uninteresting. There is some evidence that the word robot was actually coined by Karels brother Josef, a writer in his own right. In a short letter, Karel Capek wrote that he asked Josef what he should call the artificial workers in his new play. Karel suggested that he might call them Labori, which he thought might be too bookish and his brother muttered, Then call them Robots and turned back to his work, and so from a curt response we now have the word robot.

Modern Robots According to the Robot Institute of America, 1979, A robot is defined as a reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices through various programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks. Websters dictionary simplifies the definition by stating that, a robot is an automatic device that performs functions normally ascribed to humans or a machine in the form of a human. A robot is described as a machine designed to execute one or more tasks repeatedly, with speed and precision. There are as many different types of robots as there are tasks for them to perform. A robot can be controlled by a human operator, sometimes from a great distance, but most robots are controlled by computer, and fall into either of two categories: autonomous robots or insect robots. An autonomous robot acts as a stand-alone system, complete with its own computer (called the controller). Insect robots work in fleets ranging in number from a few to thousands, with all fleet members under the supervision of a single controller.

The term insect arises from the similarity of the system to a colony of insects, where the individuals are simple but the fleet as a whole can be sophisticated. Some people group robots according to the time frame in which they were first widely used. First-generation robots date from the 1970s and consist of stationary, nonprogrammable, electromechanical devices without sensors. Second-generation robots were developed in the 1980s and can contain sensors and programmable controllers. Third-generation robots were developed between approximately 1990 up to the present. These machines can be stationary or mobile, autonomous or insect type, with sophisticated programming, speech recognition and/or synthesis, and other advanced features. Fourth-generation robots are in the research-and-development phase, and include features such as artificial intelligence, self-replication, self assembly, and nanoscale size (physical dimensions on the order of nanometers, or units of 10 -9 meter). A few advanced robots are called androids because of their superficial resemblance to human beings. Androids are mobile, usually moving around on wheels or a track drive because most robots legs are unstable and difficult to engineer. The android is not necessarily the end point of robot evolution.

Some of the most esoteric and powerful robots do not look or behave anything like humans. The ultimate in robotic intelligence and sophistication might take on forms yet to be imagined. The terms android and gynoid provide separate gender classifications even for robots. android, androidal: 1. Resembling a man; manlike (such as a robot); andromorphous. 2. An automaton resembling a man; manlike. 3. In science fiction, a robot that looks and behaves like a male human being. Note: calling a female robot an android shows etymological ignorance! gynoid, gynoidal: A robot shaped like or in the form of a woman as opposed to an android (like a man); as well as, gynecoid: Resembling a female or woman; womanlike, feminine. Now you should understand why calling a female robot an android shows etymological ignorance!

There is a strong push in favor of developing robots with greater abilities, with more flexibility, with the ability to see, speak, hear. Whats more, home robots are being developedrobots of more humanoid appearance which can be useful about the house and do some of the functions classically assigned to human servants. Source: New Guide to Science by Isaac Asimov (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1984), p. 866. Take me to part 2 of robots Karel Capek Karel Capek Capek's greatness as a writer often depends not on the success of his conscious intention, but on what has slipped in, almost in spite of the author. In spite of his experimentalism, his use of scientific or philosophic themes, traditional literary values abound in his works. In spite of his determined effort to come to grips with life, and unconscious terror of life returns returns again and again in his work. Though he tried not to admit it, Capek kept stumbling over the tragedy of life. All his work after Wayside Crosses is in a sense a defense against the metaphysical horror which he perceived in that book.

-- William E Harkins, Karel Capek, 1962 Much melancholy has devolved upon mankind, and it is detestable to me that might will triumph in the end ... Art must not serve might. -- Karel Capek I think I am slowly becoming an anarchist, that this is only another label for my privateness, and I think that you will understand this in the sense of being against collectivity. -- Karel Capek Born in Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic, Czech playwright and novelist Karel Capek (1890-1938) introduced the concept of a robot in his play RUR The works of Karel Capek has similarities with Aldous Huxley Brave New World , George Orwell Ninteen Eighty-Four and the works of H G Wells. He looks to the future as to how society may be. Karel Capek warns against man's misuse of science and his desire to master life. His writings was much admired by George Bernard Shaw and G K Chesterton, the novel War With the Newts was praised by Thomas Mann.

The works of Karel Capek include the plays RUR , Rossum's Universal Robots (1921), from which the word 'robot' is derived and which describes the elimination of humanity by robots, and The Macropoulos Secret (1922), on the discovery of a drug capable of prolonging life (turned into an opera by Janacek), as well as the novels Krakatit (1924) about the invention of an all-powerful explosive, and War with the Newts (1936), about giant newts at first exploited by men but finally taking over the world. The Insect Play (1922), written in collaboration with his brother Josef, is an allegory satirizing human pretentiousness, greed, and militarism. The trilogy Hordubal (1934) explores problems of truth and human personality. Along with Franz Kafka and Jaroslav Hasek (author of The Good Soldier Svejk ), Karel Capek is ranked among the great figures of modern Czech literature.

Although not a science fiction writer, more a mainstream writer like Huxley or Orwell, Karel Capek is seen as the founding father of Czech science-fiction, and an annual science-fiction award is made in his name in Prague. The works of Karel Capek were banned during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. Neither did he find favour under the communist regime. From RUR , 1920, (trans by Paul Selver): Young Rossum invented a worker with the minimum amount of requirements. He had to simplify him. He rejected everything that did not contribute directly to the progress of work. He rejected everything that makes man more expensive. In fact, he rejected man and made the Robot. My dear Miss Glory, the Robots are not people. Mechanically they are more perfect than we are, they have an enormously developed intelligence, but they have no soul. Have you ever seen what a Robot looks like inside? RUR , Rossum's Universal Robots premiered in Prague in 1921. It was translated from the Czech into English by Paul Selver, and adapted for the English stage by Nigel Playfair in 1923.

Basil Dean produced it in April 1923 for the Reandean Company at St. Martin's Theatre, London. February 1938, a thirty-five minute adaptation of a section of RUR was broadcast on BBC Television, believed to be the first piece of television science-fiction ever to be produced. In 1948, another adaptation, this time of the entire play and running to ninety minutes, was screened by the BBC, and in between in 1941 BBC radio had also produced a version. None of these three productions survive in the BBC's archives. In an episode of the BBC TV programme Doctor Who entitled "The Robots Of Death" (1977), the crazed leader of a group of murderous robots is named "Taran Capel", which is deliberately similar to Capek's own name. Although Karel Capek introduced us to the word robot (from the Czech robota, 'compulsory service' or 'forced labour') it was actually his bother Josef Capek who coined the word robot. The concept of a robot had existed before, as an automata, but it was Karel Capek who gave a name to the concept.

His robot was what we would now call an android, an automata of humanoid appearance. OED: robot | rbt | n. E20. [Czech (in K. Capek's play R.U.R. ('Rossum's Universal Robots'), 1920), f. robota forced labour = Pol., Ukrainian robota (whence G Robot forced labour), Russ. rabota work.] 1 A machine (sometimes resembling a human being in appearance) designed to function in place of a living agent; a machine which carries out a variety of tasks automatically or with a minimum of external impulse, esp. one that is programmable. E20. b = AUTOMATON 3. E20. 2 An automatic traffic light. Chiefly S. Afr. M20. If Karel Capek introduced us to the idea of robots, it was the science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) with his robot series of novels and short stories who introduced robots into popular culture. I, Robot The Rest of the Robots The Complete Robot series. In his later writings, these two series were to merge in Robots and Empire .

Asimov explored a similar theme to Karel Capek, the conflict between men and robots. The greatest contribution by Asimov was the Three Laws of Robotics. Handbook of Robotics , 56th edition, 2058 AD: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or the Second Law. I, Robot , has been turned into a film, but apart from a reference to the Three Laws of Robotics and featuring three of the main characters, it bears no resemblance to the book of the same title by Asimov, a collection of short stories. ( Czech ) Josef Capek, brother of Karel Capek, was a Czech writer, painter and poet. As a painter he belonged to the Cubist school, though later developed his own playful primitive style.

He collaborated with his brother Karel on a number of plays and short stories, on his own he wrote the Utopian play Land of Many Names and several novels, as well as critical essays in which he argued for the art of the unconscious, of children and of 'savages'. He was named by his brother Karel as the person who coined the term robot. As a cartoonist, he worked for Lidové Noviny , a newspaper based in Prague. His critical attitude towards Nazism and Adolf Hitler, led to his arrest following the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939. He died at the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen in 1945, from where he wrote Poems from a Concentration Camp . Isaac Asimov was born near Smolensk in Russia in 1920, He moved with his parents to the United States three years later where he grew up in Brooklyn. Asimov was a prolific writer. He died in 1992 aged 72. Jordanian born, writer, poet, artist, producer and playwright Nabil Shaban appeared in Dr Who Karel Capek From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Karel Čapek ( January 9 , 1890 - December 25 , 1938 ), one of the most important Czech language writers of 20th century. He coined the frequently used international word robot , which first appeared in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) in 1920 . For English speakers, the name is pronounced something like CHAP-ek. (or in SAMPA : ['tSapek]). Karel Čapek wrote with intelligence and humor on a wide variety of subjects. His works are known not only for interesting and exact describing of reality, but also for his excellent work with the Czech language . He is perhaps best known as a science fiction author , who wrote long before science fiction became established as separate genre. He can be counted as one of founders of classical non-hardcore European science fiction, which focuses on possible future (or alternative) social and human evolution on Earth, rather than technically advanced stories of space travel. However, it is best to class him with Aldous Huxley and George Orwell as a mainstream literary figure who used science-fiction motifs.

Many of his works discuss ethical and other aspects of the revolutionary inventions and processes that were already expected in first half of 20th century . These included mass production , atomic weapons, and post-human intelligent beings such as robots or intelligent salamanders. In this, Čapek was also expressing fear of upcoming social disasters, dictatorship, violence, and unlimited power of corporations, and trying to find some hope for human beings. Čapek's literary heirs include Ray Bradbury , Salman Rushdie , and possibly Brian Aldiss and Dan Simmons . His other books and plays include detective stories, novels, fairy tales and theatre plays, and even a book on gardening. The most important works try to resolve the problem of epistemology , or "What is knowledge?": The Tales from Two Pockets, and first of all the trilogy of novels Hordubal, Meteor and An Ordinary Life. Later, in the 1930s, Čapek's work focused on the threat of brutal Nazi and fascist (but also Communist ) dictatorships . His most productive years corresponded with the existence of the first republic of Czechoslovakia (1918-1938). He wrote Talks with T.G.

Masaryk , a Czech patriot and first president of Czechoslovakia and a regular guest at Čapek's Friday garden parties for Czech patriots. This extraordinary relationship between the great author and the great political leader is perhaps unique, and is known to have been an inspiration to Vaclav Havel . Karel Čapek died in the eve of World War II , soon after it became clear that the Western allies had refused to help to defend Czechoslovakia against Hitler . He refused to eat and refused to leave his country and died of double pneumonia . The Gestapo had ranked him as "public enemy number 2" in Czechoslovakia. His brother Josef Čapek, painter and also writer, died in the Belsen concentration camp . After the war, Čapek's work was only reluctantly accepted by the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia, since during his life he had refused to believe in a communist utopia as a viable alternative to the threat of Nazi domination.

Works which can be considered early science fiction: George Devol: A Life Devoted to Invention, and Robots - IEEE Spectrum IEEE Spectrum George Devol: A Life Devoted to Invention, and Robots By Bob Malone Posted 26 Sep 2011 | 12:51 GMT George Devol was only 9 years old when the word "robot" first appeared, in 1921, introduced in Karel Capek's play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) . The robots in the play had a human form and were manufactured in vats like beer. In contrast, the robots that Devol would invent decades later were electromechanical machines -- the first digitally operated programmable robotic arms -- and they would start a revolution in manufacturing that continues to this day. Devol , who died August 11, 2011, at the age 99, was a prolific inventor and entrepreneur. His work led to the development of the first industrial robot, called Unimate [photo above], a precursor of the machines that now automate assembly lines all over the world. But the industrial robot was only one of his contributions.

With over 40 patents under his belt, Devol spent his lifetime transforming ideas into real products. I was fortunate to speak to Devol several times, in person and by phone, and in his conversations he was always humble, perceptive, and interested in the future. He enjoyed talking about his inventions, but never made boastful claims. Above all he seemed excited by all the technology coming along that he might still use. Being in his presence, I felt like I was interacting with one of those minds that only come along very rarely, a world-changing inventor like Edison or Tesla. Born into wealth in Louisville, Kentucky, George Charles Devol, Jr. became interested in electricity and machines at an early age. He attended Riordan Prep and gained some practical experience helping run the school's electric light plant. But he didn't go to an engineering school upon graduation. He started a company. It was a time when the age of electric motors and generators, control engineering, electrical transmission, and radio technology was in lift off. The first sound films, known as "talking pictures" or "talkies," cried for better sound integration, and Devol saw an opportunity.

He used his experience with vacuum tubes, photocells, and circuits to form United Cinephone Corp., in 1932, trying to gain a position in film sound. But the competition drove him to other pastures. Using the photocells and vacuum tubes he knew so well, he ended up creating one of the technological marvels of the modern world: the automatic door. He licensed the technology to a firm called Yale & Towne, which commercialized it as the "Phantom Doorman" photoelectric door. Devol went on to work with color printing presses and packaging machines, and eventually develop an early form of bar coding, and later, digital magnetic recording. He was moving ever closer to robots. In 1939, Westinghouse displayed Electro the robot at the New York World’s Fair. It was a large clanking, talking theatrical fulfillment of all those pulp and science fiction images that dominated the newsstands -- some of which were read by Devol. In fact, in 1941 Isaac Asimov coined the word "robotics" in his story " Liar! " in Astounding Science Fiction magazine.

Asimov told me in great detail when we met one evening in New York why he coined the word. He was tired of listing all the activities around robots such as design, construction, operations, manufacturing, etc. He wanted a word to cover all of this. He did not know at the time that Devol was already the living embodiment of robotics. During the World War II period, Devol worked at Sperry Gyroscope, where he helped develop radar systems and microwave test equipment. Later he organized General Electronics Industries in Greenwich, Conn., which would become one of the largest producers of radar and counter-radar devices. After the war, he worked on several other inventions. He was part of a team that developed the first microwave oven product, the Speedy Weeny, which automatically cooked and dispensed hotdogs. In 1954, Devol applied for a patent for a device called the Programmed Article Transfer. Looking for an entrepreneurial partner, Devol found one, at a cocktail party, by the name of Joseph Engelberger , an executive with engineering degrees from Columbia University.

Engelberger, who shared an enthusiasm for science fiction with Devol, took the transfer machine to his heart, he told me during an interview in 1977. Their device morphed from "programmed article transfer" to "manipulator" to "robot." Devol and Engelberger made this decision to help improve their marketing opportunities. Selling the concept even with a working prototype was an uphill chore. But it paid off: The robot connection gave the project an extra dose of energy that helped it succeed. The first Unimate, a product of their new Unimation Corp., was hydraulically powered. Its control system relied upon digital control, a magnetic drum memory, and discrete solid-state control components. In 1961 the first Unimate was installed at a GM plant in Trenton, New Jersey, to assist a hot die-casting machine. Unimation would soon develop robots for welding and other applications. Patent Number 2,988,237 was the seed that spawned the robot industry. In one of my encounters with Devol, at the 1997 Automation Hall of Fame ceremony, I presented him with an award .

During the reception, Sico , an entertainment and educational robot, rolled over to Devol and said, “Father, so good to see you!” A smile broke over Devol’s kind face, and we all laughed. In a subsequent conversation Devol told me that none of his inventions were accepted quickly or easily. His persistence -- 99 years of it -- made the world a different place. May whatever robot angels exist lift you up and let you rest in peace. Images: Bob Malone Learn More

Question: Which word was coined by Karel Capek in his play "R. U. R." in 1929?
Answer: Robot