Zadoc P. Dederick was an American inventor. Along with

Isaac Grass Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was th ...

he was the creator of a steam-powered humanlike robot designed to pull a cart. The invention was patented on March 24, 1868, as patent 75874, and operated through a system of levers and cranks, attached to steam-powered pistons and a boiler. The original prototype cost $2,000 (equivalent to about $39,458 in 2020) and was built in Newark, New Jersey. Plans to produce it for $300 never went through, making this an example of an early development in steam power that was abandoned. Nonetheless, inventions such as this one spurred interest in steam power, as exemplified by novels such as '' The Steam Man of the Prairies'', and by many imitations and hoaxes that appeared as a result.

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19th-century American inventors History of the steam engine Place of birth missing Place of death missing Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{US-inventor-stub

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