Miracles and Machines

5/5

There's a rare automaton in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. It's a monk that moves and prays fervently, an exquisite piece of art and clockwork with an unknown provenance. Could it have been made in Spain by the famous engineer Juanelo Turriano? Or did it come from somewhere else?

This was quite an interesting read, I picked it up out of curiosity and was really surprised by both the quality and the monk itself! An extremely well researched book, with a thorough description and exploration of all the mechanics behind this astonishing automata plus the history behind these creations. Not one stone was left unturned by the researchers, the amount of work put into this was astounding. The pictures were also lovely and the whole work was nicely formatted. My favorite part about reading this was how clearly it was a labor of love, of curiosity, and cooperation between different people and disciplines. Cannot recommend this enough.

Did you read The Invention of Hugo Cabaret, or watch the movie Hugo and get fascinated by the automaton? This book is an in-depth look at one specific automaton called the Monk, now held at the Met. This automaton is over 500 years old and is still in working order. This book goes in depth about how it was made and runs, and who could possibly have been the builder. It does this by showing various automaton that have been found, as well as comparing it to historic art and history of people who would have collected such things. It mixes intrigue and imagination and makes one want to learn more and see more pictures of automaton that still exist. This book appears well researched. There are plenty of citations in the back and the chart in the appendix where they compare the various automaton was also helpful. Overall, this is a fascinating book that when somebody picks it up might wonder how these could’ve existed for over 500 years while AI seems to be the new big thing in our current society.

Miracles and Machines: A Sixteenth-Century Automaton and Its Legend, by Elizabeth King and W David Todd, is a fascinating look at the history and mechanism of automatons using a specific one in the Smithsonian's holdings as a focal point.

There is so much to like about this book. The writing is excellent, the pictures are wonderful, and the presentation is almost ideal for a work like this.

Starting with the writing, it offers the fruits of their extensive research in clear prose. Whether giving the history, the understandings of the pieces, or the mechanical workings they manage to keep the material interesting and accessible.

The illustrations range from beautiful photographs of the automata to detailed schematics of their internal workings. Coupled with the text, both captions and the body of text, they offer clarification on some points and just plain visual appeal everywhere.

I think what really makes the book as a whole work so well is the use of a large number of chapters, many of which are fairly short, each narrowly focused on a specific point or explanation. Considering how much information is in the book, it never feels overwhelming.

I would recommend this to readers with an interest in art history, engineering history, and just plain old artifacts broadly speaking. There is a lot here that will appeal to a wide range of readers. It would make an excellent display volume, whether on a coffee table or in an office.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.