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"Science fiction operates a little bit like science itself, in principle. You've got thousands of people exploring ideas, putting forth their own hypotheses. Most of them are dead wrong; a few stand the test of time; everything looks kind of quaint in hind"
- Peter Watts
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| Robotess | ||
| A female robot. |
As far as I know, this is the first use of this uncommon word, designating a female robot.
| Alquist. (Awakes) "Laughter? Laughter, human beings." (Getting up) "Who has returned? Who are you?"
Primus. "The Robot Primus." Alquist. (To Helena) "What? A Robot? Who are you?" Helena. "The Robotess Helena." (Shies away L.) Alquist. "What? You are timid, shy? (Starts to touch her) Let me see you, Robotess." Primus. Sir, do not frighten her. (Steps forward.) |
| Technovelgy from R.U.R.,
by Karel Capek. Published by Not Available in 1920 Additional resources -
|
Today, many writers use gynoid to describe a feminine gendered robot; see the entry for gynoid from Divine Endurance (1984) by Gwyneth Jones.
Fans of early cinema might also remember the female robot from Fritz Lang's 1927 classic Metropolis.
(Female robot from Fritz Lang's Metropolis)
The term fembot is also used; this term first appeared in 1976 in The Bionic Woman, an American television series.
Compare to the manufactured wife from A Wife Manufactured to Order (1895) by Alice W. Fuller, the psychophonic nurse from The Psychophonic Nurse (1928) by David H. Keller, the teleoperated robot surrogate from The Robot and the Lady (1938) by Manly Wade Wellman, the mechanical bride from The Mechanical Bride (1954) by Fritz Leiber, the maid-robot from The Midas Plague (1954) by Frederik Pohl, the Nanny from Nanny (1955) by Philip K. Dick and robotrix from Flow My Tears The Policeman Said (1974) by Philip K. Dick.
(From 'Imagination' July, 1953)
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'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.'
'My homeland is being threatened by the Replicators. Thus far all attempts to stop them have failed.'
'A robobus had just rolled up to the curb.'
'And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile.'
