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History Of Artificial Intelligence
The history of artificial intelligence (AI) began in antiquity, with myths, stories and rumors of artificial beings endowed with intelligence or consciousness by master craftsmen. The seeds of modern AI were planted by philosophers who attempted to describe the process of human thinking as the mechanical manipulation of symbols.This work culminated in the invention of the programmable digital computer in the 1940s, a machine based on the abstract essence of mathematical reasoning. This device and the ideas behind it inspired a handful of scientists to begin seriously discussing the possibility of building an electronic brain. The field of AI research was founded at a workshop held on the campus of Dartmouth College, USA during the summer of 1956. Those who attended would become the leaders of AI research for decades. Many of them predicted that a machine as intelligent as a human being would exist in no more than a generation, and they were given millions of dollars to make ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient History
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history covers all continents inhabited by humans in the period 3000 BCAD 500. The three-age system periodizes ancient history into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age, with recorded history generally considered to begin with the Bronze Age. The start and end of the three ages varies between world regions. In many regions the Bronze Age is generally considered to begin a few centuries prior to 3000 BC, while the end of the Iron Age varies from the early first millennium BC in some regions to the late first millennium AD in others. During the time period of ancient history, the world population was already exponentially increasing due to the Neolithic Revolution, which was in full progress. While in 10,000 BC, the world population stood at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ichor
In Greek mythology, ichor () is the ethereal fluid that is the blood of the gods and/or immortals. The Ancient Greek word () is of uncertain etymology, and has been suggested to be a foreign word. In classical myth Ichor originates in Greek mythology, where it is the ‘ethereal fluid’ that is the blood of the Greek gods, sometimes said to retain the qualities of the immortals’ food and drink, ambrosia and nectar. Ichor is described as toxic to humans, killing them instantly if they came in contact with it. Great heroes and demigods occasionally attacked gods and released ichor, but gods rarely did so to each other in Homeric myth. : : Blood follow'd, but immortal ichor pure, : Such as the blest inhabitants of heav'n : May bleed, nectareous; for the Gods eat not : Man's food, nor slake as he with sable wine : Their thirst, thence bloodless and from death exempt. : :: :, In Ancient Crete, tradition told of Talos, a giant man of bronze. When Cretan mythology was appropr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faust, Part Two
''Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy'' (german: Faust. Der Tragödie zweiter Teil in fünf Akten.) is the second part of the tragic play ''Faust'' by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was published in 1832, the year of Goethe's death. Only part of ''Faust I'' is directly related to the legend of Johann Faust, which dates to at latest the beginning of the 16th century (thus preceding Marlowe's play). The "Gretchen" subplot, although now the most widely known episode of the Faust legend, was of Goethe's own invention. In ''Faust II'', the legend (at least in a version of the 18th century, which came to Goethe's attention) already contained Faust's marriage with Helen and an encounter with an Emperor. But certainly Goethe deals with the legendary material very freely in both parts. Acts Act I * ''Graceful area. Faust, bedded on flowery turf, weary, restless, seeking sleep. Dusk. Ghost circle, floating moves, graceful little figures.'' The first act opens with an appeal by Ariel t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jabir Ibn Hayyan
Abū Mūsā Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (Arabic: , variously called al-Ṣūfī, al-Azdī, al-Kūfī, or al-Ṭūsī), died 806−816, is the purported author of an enormous number and variety of works in Arabic, often called the Jabirian corpus. The works that survive today mainly deal with alchemy and chemistry, magic, and Shi'ite religious philosophy. However, the original scope of the corpus was vast and diverse, covering a wide range of topics ranging from cosmology, astronomy and astrology, over medicine, pharmacology, zoology and botany, to metaphysics, logic, and grammar. Jabir's works contain the oldest known systematic classification of chemical substances, and the oldest known instructions for deriving an inorganic compound (sal ammoniac or ammonium chloride) from organic substances (such as plants, blood, and hair) by chemical means. His works also contain one of the earliest known versions of the sulfur-mercury theory of metals, a mineralogical theory that would remain d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ismaili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept Musa al-Kadhim, the younger brother of Isma'il, as the true Imām. Isma'ilism rose at one point to become the largest branch of Shia Islam, climaxing as a political power with the Fatimid Caliphate in the 10th through 12th centuries. Ismailis believe in the oneness of God, as well as the closing of divine revelation with Muhammad, whom they see as "the final Prophet and Messenger of God to all humanity". The Isma'ili and the Twelvers both accept the same six initial Imams; the Isma'ili accept Isma'il ibn Jafar as the seventh Imam. After the death of Muhammad ibn Isma'il in the 8th century CE, the teachings of Ismailism further transformed into the belief system as it is known tod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takwin
Takwin ( ar, تكوين) was a goal of certain Muslim alchemists, notably Jabir ibn Hayyan. In the alchemical context, takwin refers to the creation of synthetic life in the laboratory, up to and including human life. Whether Jabir meant this goal to be interpreted literally is unknown. Jabir states in his ''Book of Stones'' (4:12) that "The purpose is to baffle and lead into error everyone except those whom God loves and provides for!" The ''Book of Stones'' was deliberately written in a highly esoteric code, so that only those who had been initiated into his alchemical school could understand them. It is therefore difficult at best for the modern reader to discern which aspects of Jabir's work are to be read as symbols (and what those symbols mean), and what is to be taken literally. Kathleen Malone O'Connor writes: See also *Golem *Homunculus *Abiogenesis *Tulpa Tulpa is a concept in Theosophy, mysticism, and the paranormal, of an object or being that is created through sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paracelsus
Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He was a pioneer in several aspects of the " medical revolution" of the Renaissance, emphasizing the value of observation in combination with received wisdom. He is credited as the "father of toxicology". Paracelsus also had a substantial influence as a prophet or diviner, his "Prognostications" being studied by Rosicrucians in the 1600s. Paracelsianism is the early modern medical movement inspired by the study of his works. Biography Paracelsus was born in Egg an der Sihl, a village close to the Etzel Pass in Einsiedeln, Schwyz. He was born in a house right next to a bridge across the Sihl river (known as ''Teufelsbrücke''). The historical house, dated to the 14th century, was destroyed in 1814. The ''Restaurant Krone'' now stands in its pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homunculus Faust
A homunculus ( , , ; "little person") is a representation of a small human being, originally depicted as small statues made out of clay. Popularized in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, it has historically referred to the creation of a miniature, fully formed human. The concept has roots in preformationism as well as earlier folklore and alchemic traditions. The term lends its name to the cortical homunculus, an image of a person with the size of the body parts distorted to represent how much area of the cerebral cortex of the brain is devoted to it. History Alchemy The homunculus first appears by name in alchemical writings attributed to Paracelsus (1493–1541). ''De natura rerum'' (1537) outlines his method for creating homunculi: Comparisons have been made with several similar concepts in the writings of earlier alchemists. Although the actual word "homunculus" was never used, Carl Jung believed that the concept first appeared in the ''Visions of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golem
A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century rabbi of Prague. According to '' Moment'' magazine, "the golem is a highly mutable metaphor with seemingly limitless symbolism. It can be a victim or villain, Jew or non-Jew, man or woman—or sometimes both. Over the centuries, it has been used to connote war, community, isolation, hope, and despair."Cooper, MarilynJewish Word , Golem" '' Moment''. 17 July 2017. 24 August 2017. Etymology The word ''golem'' occurs once in the Bible in Psalm 139:16, which uses the word (; my golem), that means "my light form", "raw" material, connoting the unfinished human being before God's eyes. The Mishnah uses the term for an uncultivated person: "Seven characteristics are in an uncultivated person, and seven in a learned one", () (Pirkei Avot 5:7 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eleazar Of Worms
Eleazar of Worms (אלעזר מוורמייזא - also מגרמייזא of Garmiza or Garmisa) (c. 1176–1238), or Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus, also sometimes known today as Eleazar Rokeach ("Eleazar the Perfumer" אלעזר רקח) from the title of his ''Book of the Perfumer'' (''Sefer ha rokeah'' ספר הרקח)—where the numerical value of "Perfumer" (in Hebrew) is equal to Eleazar, was a leading Talmudist and Kabbalist, and the last major member of the ''Hasidei Ashkenaz'', a group of German Jewish pietists. Biography Eleazar was most likely born in Mainz. Through his father Judah ben Kalonymus, he was a descendant of the great Kalonymus family of Mainz. Eleazar was also a disciple of Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg (Judah he-Hasid), who initiated him into the study of the Kabbalah, at that time little known in Germany. According to Zunz, Eleazar was hazzan at Erfurt before he became rabbi at Worms. In 1233 he took part in the Synod of Mainz which enacted the bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Propoetides
In Greco-Roman mythology, the Propoetides (Ancient Greek: Προποιτίδες) are the daughters of Propoetus from the city of Amathus on the island of Cyprus. Mythology In Roman literature, they are treated by Ovid in his ''Metamorphoses'' (book 10.238 ff.): Nevertheless, the immoral Propoetides dared to deny that Venus was the goddess. For this, because of her divine anger, they are said to have been the first to prostitute their bodies and their reputations in public, and, losing all sense of shame, they lost the power to blush, as the blood hardened in their cheeks, and only a small change turned them into hard flints. The story of Venus and her vengeance on the Propoetides for failing to worship her properly is a common theme in a number of stories and poems written about the goddess. According to Ovid, after seeing the Propoetides prostituting themselves, Pygmalion determined that he was "not interested in women". This drove him to create a woman of his own in stat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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