Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Abbreviations ix
4. Introduction. The Persistence of Robots: An Archaeology of Automata 1
5. Chapter 1. Rare Devices: Geography and Technology 12
6. Chapter 2. Between Art and Nature: Natura artifex, Neoplatonism, and Literary Automata 40
7. Chapter 3. Talking Heads: Astral Science, Divination, and Legends of Medieval Philosophers 69
8. Chapter 4. The Quick and the Dead: Corpses, Memorial Statues, and Automata 96
9. Chapter 5. From Texts to Technology: Mechanical Marvels in Courtly and Public Pageantry 116
10. Chapter 6. The Clockwork Universe: Keeping Sacred and Secular Time 141
11. Notes 155
12. Bibliography 211
13. Index 241
14. Acknowledgments 253