Mind-bending infections
2011; Landes Bioscience; Volume: 2; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.4161/gmic.2.1.14540
ISSN1949-0984
Autores Tópico(s)Historical Medical Research and Treatments
ResumoIn 1770, Wolfgang von Kempelen presented his famous chess-playing automaton, "The Turk," at the court of Maria Theresa, the Austro-Hungarian empress. The instrument consisted of a life-size, pipe-wielding, turbaned model of a stereotypical Turk seated behind a cabinet table, his right hand resting next to a chess board. "The Turk" played a reasonably good game of chess, its mechanical arms deftly grasping the chessmen and moving them about the board. Opening the doors of the cabinet, one could see a complicated array of gears and cogs cleverly positioned to obfuscate the actual workings of the instrument. "The Turk" subsequently traveled all over Europe and America, and defeated many players, including Napoleon and Ben Franklin. "Perhaps no exhibition of the kind has ever elicited so general attention as the Chess-Player of Maelzel" (Johann Maelzel had purchased "The Turk" from Kempelen's son) wrote Edgar Allen Poe in an essay that speculated about the inner workings of "The Turk." It was finally exposed that the chess moves were actually made by an operator cleverly concealed within the cabinet. "The Turk" was unfortunately lost in a Philadelphia museum fire in 1854.
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