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Robots and Their Multi Dimensional Skills in Literature Journal of Information and Computational Science ISSN: 1548-7741 ROBOTS AND THEIR MULTI DIMENSIONAL SKILLS IN LITERATURE Author1 and Author2 1 S. Akila Research Scholar Department of English Annamalai University Chidambaram 2 Dr. A. Glory Research Supervisor Assistant Professor of English Department of English Annamalai University Chidambaram ABSTRACT The field of ‘Robotics’ has its origin in science fiction. The fictional world introduced robots in literature through the cybernetic tales. The term ‘robotics’ has been originated in the field of Literature and the genre science fiction planted the possibilities of the usage of robots in common world. Simultaneously it created attentiveness about this technology. This cybernetic imagination cropped up from the epic period itself. In Greek and Tamil mythology, the Gods created metal creature to assist the human being. In Homer’s Iliad, the Greek God Hephaistos had created two golden maids which could speak, spin, weave and do other works. In Tamil mythology, the speaking statue in Vikaramathiyan’s throne is the example for metal made creation. There are thirty two Bronze lady statues in the throne which depicted thirty two moral stories to Boja Rajan, the ruler. The purpose of creating artificial being is to facilitate the humanity. So from the mythological period, there has been need for artificial creatures that were said to be created by supernatural beings. Keywords: Robotics, Laws of Robotics, Positronic Brain, and Technophobia Science fiction has no doubt contributed to the development of robotics, by planting ideas in the minds of young people who might embark on career in robotics, and by creating awareness among the public about this technology. We should also identify certain technological developments over the years that have contributed to the substance of robotics. (P. Groover et al., 9) Volume 9 Issue 11 - 2019 309 www.joics.org Journal of Information and Computational Science ISSN: 1548-7741 The field of ‘Robotics’ has its origin in science fiction. The fictional world introduced robots in literature through the cybernetic tales. The term ‘robotics’ has been originated in the field of Literature and the genre science fiction planted the possibilities of the usage of robots in common world. Simultaneously it created attentiveness about this technology. This cybernetic imagination cropped up from the epic period itself. In Greek and Tamil mythology, the Gods created metal creature to assist the human being. In Homer’s Iliad the Greek God Hephaistos had created two golden maids which could speak, spin, weave and do other works. In Tamil mythology, the speaking statue in Vikaramathiyan’s throne is the example for metal made creation. There are thirty two Bronze lady statues in the throne which depicted thirty two moral stories to Boja Rajan, the ruler. The purpose of creating artificial being is to facilitate the humanity. So from the mythological period, there has been need for artificial creatures that were said to be created by supernatural beings. Leonardo da Vinci designed a humanoid automation in 1464. It was a knight and it could stand, sit, raise its visor and independently move. The Knight was galvanized by a phase of pulleys and cables. Unfortunately the world came to know about this through a sketch book only in 1957. So the real idea of robot creation was first done by Leonardo da Vinci. It is also known as the soldier robot, or as the Leonardo's mechanical knight. The sketch portraying was rediscovered only in 1957 by Carlo Pedretti. If the world had learnt how to make robots in real world through this sketch book, definitely the science world would have produced robot at least before three centuries. So the merit of creating robots goes to literature because in science fiction robots gradually developed and later it entered in the real world. Only in the end of the eighteenth century scientists discovered that human could create an artificial being with the help of electricity. In 1798 the world came to know the power of electricity. An Italian physicist, Luigi Galvani, had perceived that the muscles of the frog could be made to convulse if it touched simultaneously by the two different metals, and it seemed to him that it was a living tissue. Mary Shelley carried out this concept in her novel Frankenstein, a tale of horror which was published in 1818. In this book, Victor Frankenstein, an anatomist, collected fragments of freshly dead bodies and he gave artificial life to the dead body with the help of new scientific technology. This new creation was referred by the name ‘Monster’. Since it was looking like a monster, its tender emotions were bruised frequently by the humans. Consequently the creation met Frankenstein, its creator and demanded to make a female counterpart because he could find no place in human society. The anatomist realized that if he creates a female counterpart to him then no one could redeem the humanity from the devastation. So he neglected the demand of the Frankenstein Monster. The frustrated monster showed its anger towards its creator, and it took reprisal against Frankenstein and all other dear to him. The first villainous role has been performed by this artificial creature. This novel made an enormous sensation. After publishing Frankenstein, there was a threat spread all over the world that, if man creates an artificial man with the help of science then he will destroy the humanity. Everyone assumed that science is the enemy of the Volume 9 Issue 11 - 2019 310 www.joics.org Journal of Information and Computational Science ISSN: 1548-7741 humanity. Frankenstein was the ultimate warning of science. The book The science of Stephen King stated, “The Frankenstein Monster was the earliest example of an android, a creature considered by early science fiction writers to be an artificial organic being, a ‘synthetic’ man. A number of early horrors and fantasy stories used android as the villains” (H. Gresh and Weinberg 54). Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein, the artificial being was not created by any supernatural thing and it was invented by the technology of science. This type of new scientific perspective was demonstrated by Marry Shelley, and she created a new calibre in the literature, which encompassed horror, science and fantasy. In the nineteenth century, the world was unaware of the word ‘Robot’. So Marry Shelley used the name ‘Monster’ in her novel. Ambrose’s “Moxon's Master" is a short story which was published in 1909. It describes a chess-playing automaton which murders its creator. The Chess playing robot could not endure its failure in the game and in that anger it murdered its opponent who is his maker. Again the Villainous robot had been introduced by Ambrose, In body and head it shook like a man with palsy or an ague chill, and the motion augmented every moment until the entire figure was in violent agitation. Suddenly it sprang to its feet and with a movement almost too quick for the eye to follow shot forward across table and chair, with both arms thrust forth to their full length -- the posture and lunge of a diver. Moxon tried to throw himself backward out of reach, but he was too late: I saw the horrible thing's hand close upon his throat, his own clutch its wrists. Then the table was overturned, and candle thrown to the floor and extinguished and all was black dark. ( 9) The above quotation portrays the fury of the robot chess player and how it burned the master’s home. Edger Allen Poe also portrayed Robot chess player in the essay “Maelzel’s Chess –Player”. In the book Cybernetic Imagination Patricka S.Warick stated, “The chess player has been advertised as pure machine, but a highly intelligent machine that can beat all challengers in chess” (40). The Frankenstein complex again occurred in Karel Capek’s play R.U.R. and the abbreviation stands for ‘Rossum’s Universal Robots’. This play has been in1920 and performed in New York Garrick Theatre in 1921. The word ‘Robot’ for the first time appeared in this play which is first coined by him. The term ‘Robot’ was derived from the Czech word ‘Robota’ which means ‘Forced labour’ and the term ‘Rozum’ refers to ‘intellect’. The play was set in an island where thousands of robots were produced in a factory. The robots tried to destroy all the human beings and wanted to be the masters of the Earth. The robots murdered all the people in the world but still they could not be masters. The robots which had rational thought and spirit of revolt turned against the human masters. This threat was again shattered by World War I. That horrible holocaust made it quite plain that science could, after all, be an enemy of humanity. The new explosives were manufactured with the help of science. Airplanes and airships were constructed to carry those Volume 9 Issue 11 - 2019 311 www.joics.org Journal of Information and Computational Science ISSN: 1548-7741 explosives to the areas which had to be destroyed. The Faustian role of science frequently occurred in World War I, World War II and in the Cold War. During the World Wars science was treated as a destroyer. Thus R. Buckminster Fuller depicted, “Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons” (Technology). This worse notion was spread all over the world through literature. In both fiction and real world the scientific advancement was used for the purpose of destruction. The period between, 1920 and 1930 was considered as the peak period of science fictions. Literature of this period portrayed robots as man’s enemy. So the mechanical man is considered as a Prometheus who is notoriously known for his ingratitude towards his master.
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