Jane Young Knihy

This work offers a revealing exploration of how the Orpheus myth influenced Renaissance writers and thinkers in their understanding of eloquence. In Greek mythology, Orpheus's enchanting songs had the power to charm gods and command nature. This inspired Renaissance figures, from Bacon to Shakespeare, to investigate the hidden forces of verbal eloquence and the question of how words can incite action. The author, Jenny Mann, highlights the significance of the Orpheus story in shaping early modern writers' and natural philosophers' comprehension of rhetorical force. She illustrates how ancient poetic forms and figures informed the scientific principles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Mann specifically examines how Ovid's rendition of the Orpheus myth provided a framework for English poets and philosophers to articulate language's ability to influence without physical interaction. These thinkers regarded eloquence as an aesthetic force capable of captivating and transforming audiences. By analyzing a range of works from drama, poetry, and philosophy by notable figures such as Bacon, Lodge, Marlowe, and Shakespeare, Mann reveals how the allure of Orpheus contributed to the creation of some of the era's most significant literature. This study sheds light on the enduring impact of ancient Greek thought on early modern English rhetoric and literature.

'A must read for anyone interested in the emerging ethics of robotics' Irene M. Pepperberg A bold, optimistic exploration of the relationship between robots and humans based on our history with animals, from a renowned MIT researcher The robots are here. They make our cars, they deliver fast food, they mine the sea floor. And in the near-future their presence will increasingly enter our homes and workplaces - making human-robot interaction a frequent, everyday occurrence. What will this future look like? What will define the relationship between humans and robots? Here Kate Darling, a world-renowned expert in robot ethics, shows that in order to understand the new robot world, we must first move beyond the idea that this technology will be something like us. Instead, she argues, we should look to our relationship with animals. Just as we have harnessed the power of animals to aid us in war and work, so too will robots supplement - rather than replace - our own skills and abilities. A deeply original analysis of our technological future and the ethical dilemmas that await us, The New Breed explains how the treatment of machines can reveal a new understanding of our own history, our own systems and how we relate - not just to non-humans, but also to each other.