Artificial Intelligence: Robotics and Machine Evolution (Megatech)

Taken from Chapter 6: Robot explorers Robots are ideal for dealing with radioactive materials. Other uses for robots include deep-sea missions, bomb disposal, or even going into volcanoes. Artificial intelligence will allow them to work on their own future. Space is an ideal place for using robots because humans cannot endure interplanetary missions that last for years. The Apollo missions of the 1960s and early 1970s brought people to the Moon, but robots have gone further in space. Robot spacecraft have explored much of the Solar System.

Grade 5-7-Splashy introductions to burgeoning areas of modern technology. All three titles have bright, full-color photographs on nearly every page. Many captions and sidebars combine with single paragraphs of text to trace the development of these scientific wonders. "Time Track" sections highlight historical discoveries and the scientists who made them. Two-page glossaries define technical terms in full paragraphs. In each volume, several aspects of the main topic are touched upon with enough detail to give readers a basic understanding of the technology and its significance to human life. Artificial Intelligence shows the variety of robotic devices and advances in computer power in use today and those envisioned for the near future. Cloning traces the history of genetic discoveries and theories, including the basics of cellular reproduction and describes research in the genetic engineering of plants, animals, and humans. Cyberspace relates the history of telecommunications, the Internet, and the World Wide Web. Applications of virtual reality to medicine, entertainment, military training, and space exploration indicate its potential value as it continues to be refined. Minor errors do not mar the overall value of material presented. For example, Cyberspace defines optical fiber as "ultra-fine plastic tube" when most optical fibers used in communications are actually glass encased in plastic. David Freedman's Brainmakers (S & S, 1994; o.p.), Linda Tagliaferro's Genetic Engineering (Lerner, 1997), and Sean M. Grady's Virtual Reality (Facts On File, 1998) are less colorful, but provide greater depth of coverage.
Ann G. Brouse, Big Flats Branch Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.