Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of real and imagined machines that appear to be living, and the questions they raise about life and creation. Even in myth they are made by humans, not born. The classical Greeks built some and designed others, but the knowledge of how to make automata and the principles behind them was lost in the Latin Christian West, remaining in the Greek-speaking and Arabic-speaking world. Western travellers to those regions struggled to explain what they saw, attributing magical powers. The advance of clockwork raised further questions about what was distinctly human, prompting Hobbes to argue that humans were sophisticated machines, an argument explored in the Enlightenment and beyond.
The image above is Jacques de Vaucanson's mechanical duck (1739), which picked up grain, digested and expelled it. If it looks like a duck...
with
Simon Schaffer Professor of History of Science at Cambridge University
Elly Truitt Associate Professor of Medieval History at Bryn Mawr College
And
Franziska Kohlt Doctoral Researcher in English Literature and the History of Science at the University of Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:02.0 | Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time. |
| 0:05.0 | There's a reading list to go with it on our website. |
| 0:07.0 | And you can get news about our programs if you follow us on Twitter at BBC In Our Time. |
| 0:12.0 | I hope you enjoyed the programs. |
| 0:14.0 | Hello, in the 10th century, life-like golden lines guarded the Byzantine court moving and roaring. |
| 0:19.0 | Western visitors had no idea how these worked, but guests they were enchanted. |
| 0:23.0 | In genius machines such as these called Automata, |
| 0:27.0 | challenged what it meant to say that something was alive. |
| 0:30.0 | And when such devices took human form, |
| 0:32.0 | their questions were meant to be human. |
| 0:34.0 | Were we machines too in some way? |
| 0:36.0 | If not, how are we different? |
| 0:38.0 | The answers to that changed over time, but would remain constant. |
| 0:41.0 | Was an uneasiness. |
| 0:42.0 | The machines made to imitate humans and be our servants might become our masters. |
| 0:46.0 | We admit to discuss ideas about early Automata as Simon Schuffer, |
| 0:50.0 | Professor of History of Science at Cambridge University, |
| 0:53.0 | Elite Roots, Associate Professor of Medieval History, Brinmore College, |
| 0:57.0 | and Francesca Colt, Doctoral Research in English Literature and History of Science at the University of Oxford, Simon. |
| 1:04.0 | What's our definition of Automata for this program? |
| 1:07.0 | So literally, Automata means self-moving devices, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.