Track My Order
Help Centre
Likes
My Wish ListsLogin / Join
Booktopia
Australia's local bookstore
Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Artificial Intelligence before Computers : The History of Romantic Computationalism - Asko Nivala

Artificial Intelligence before Computers

The History of Romantic Computationalism

By: Asko Nivala

eText | 25 September 2026 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

eText

$98.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $24.75 with

 or 

Available: 25th September 2026

Preorder. Online access available after release.

Why choose an eTextbook?

Instant Access *

Purchase and read your book immediately

Read Aloud

Listen and follow along as Bookshelf reads to you

Study Tools

Built-in study tools like highlights and more

* eTextbooks are not downloadable to your eReader or an app and can be accessed via web browsers only. You must be connected to the internet and have no technical issues with your device or browser that could prevent the eTextbook from operating.

This cultural history of thinking machines examines conceptions of the human as an automaton and the possibility of mechanised thought in philosophical and literary works from the seventeenth century to the 1840s, with particular emphasis on the Romantic period.

In the 2020s, there has been no escaping the debate over AI. Yet strong AI remains as much science fiction today as it was in the nineteenth century. Media archaeology has highlighted the ruptures and dead ends of technological development, recovering forgotten and obsolete technologies. Failed and imagined attempts to create thinking machines from Thomas Hobbes to Charles Babbage and from E.T.A. Hoffmann to Edgar Allan Poe not only illuminate their own historical contexts but also reveal the origins of the utopian hopes and dystopian fears that continue to shape responses to mechanised thought. Artificial Intelligence before Computers argues that we can move beyond the Romantic myth of AI only by recognising its historical roots.

Drawing on case studies from Britain, Germany and the United States, this book will appeal to postgraduates and scholars in history, philosophy, literary studies and media studies, as well as non-specialist readers seeking to understand the long history of AI.

on
Desktop
Tablet
Mobile

You Can Find This eBook In

Non-FictionHistoryRegional & National HistoryEuropean HistorySpecific Events & Topics in HistorySocial & Cultural HistoryGeneral & World HistoryScienceScience in GeneralHistory of ScienceEarliest Times to Present Day20th Century History from 1900 to 2000
Post War 20th Century History after 1945

More in European History

A Short History of World War I : Short History - James L. Stokesbury

eBOOK

A Short History of World War I

Short History

eBook

RRP $25.99

$20.89

20%
OFF
The Great Gamble : The Soviet War in Afghanistan - Gregory Feifer

eBOOK

The Great Gamble

The Soviet War in Afghanistan

eBook

RRP $33.99

$27.27

20%
OFF

This product is categorised by