Person
Every book Rodney Brooks recommended on podcasts
Rodney Brooks appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast to discuss his extensive background in robotics. As a guest, Brooks reflected on the foundational texts that shaped his understanding of computation and artificial intelligence throughout his career. He discussed Marvin Minsky's seminal mid-1960s text, Computation: Finite and Infinite Machines, praising it as a mathematically rigorous and beautiful book about the nature of computation. Brooks also referenced Donald Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming to examine early historical definitions of computation. Furthermore, he engaged with the history of AI setbacks, mentioning Marvin Minsky and Seymour Papert's book Perceptrons and discussing how it critically evaluated early neural networks. Reflecting on his early intellectual development, Brooks recalled childhood books such as Geoffrey Gerard's The Book of Electricity and Edmund Callis Berkeley's Giant Brains; or, Machines That Think, noting how these early resources featuring diagrams of robots and electrical circuits initially inspired his lifelong fascination with machines, circuits, and computation. Through these literary references, Brooks provided historical context on the evolution of robotics, computational theory, and artificial intelligence from the mid-century to the modern era.
Books recommended by Rodney Brooks
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Computation: Finite and Infinite Machines
Discussed“and so marvin minsky very well known in ai but also a fantastic mathematician uh in his book finite and infinite machines from the mid 60s which is a beautiful beautiful mathematical book”
Where to get it
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Giant brains; or, Machines that think
Discussed“and how i won the book of giant brains and robots”
Where to get it
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Perceptrons
Discussed“i should have asked marvin why he he and seymour pappet came down so hard on neural networks in 1968 in their book perceptrons”
Where to get it
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Perceptrons
Discussed“uh i i should have asked marvin why he he and seymour pappet came down so hard on neural networks in 1968 in their book perceptrons”
Where to get it
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The Art of Computer Programming
The Art of Computer Programming by Donald E.
Discussed“and donald knuth uh in his first volume of his you know art of computer programming in around 1968 says well what's computation”
Where to get it
Books Rodney Brooks wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| #217 – Rodney Brooks: Robotics | Lex Fridman Podcast | 2021-09-03 | 8 |
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“how and why wonder books um how am i on the book of electricity and how i won the book of giant brains and robots”
“um how am i on the book of electricity and how i won the book of giant brains and robots”
“in fact i'm halfway through a i think it'll be about a 480 page book um titled the working title is not even wrong”