Observations on the Automaton Chess Player Now Exhibited in London, at 4 Spring Gardens

"Observations on the Automaton Chess Player Now Exhibited in London, at 4 Spring Gardens" by an Oxford graduate, is a historical record about a special machine from the late 1700s known as the Automaton Chess Player, made by Wolfgang von Kempelen, which seemed to play chess by itself. The book shares the history of this amazing device and looks closely at how it was built and how it worked, explaining how it seemed to move chess pieces on its own and why people were so interested in it. The writer thinks about the hidden workings that made the machine look like it could think and plan moves, clearing up common misunderstandings. The book celebrates the cleverness of the technology while questioning the nature of mechanical ability.