One of the most influential Czech writers of the 20th century (1890–1938) who introduced and made popular the word 'robot,' which first appeared in his 1921 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). Scarce vintage matte-finish 3.25 x 5 postcard photo of the Czech author, signed in the lower border in bold fountain pen, "Karel Capek." In fine condition, with faint silvering to darker areas of the image.
In R.U.R., Capek conceived his 'robots' as artificial biological beings, not as the mechanical automatons we associate with the word today. Still, they had all the characteristics of a modern robot, as explained in the play: 'Robots are not people. They are mechanically more perfect than we are, they have an astounding intellectual capacity, but they have no soul… They learn to speak, write, and do arithmetic. They have a phenomenal memory. If one read them the Encyclopedia Britannica they could repeat everything back in order, but they never think up anything original. They'd make fine university professors.'
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