Secrets of Automata

‘Secrets of Automata – Ingenious designs for mechanical life’ by Michael Start of The House of Automata.

Crowood Press,Hardback, 176 pages, 75,000 words and 338 images, 22 x 1.7 x 28cm,  £40 including post in UK (USA & EU at cost, see below). 

Order from us and your signed copy will come straight from the author with a free ticket for the Automata exhibition.

Lavishly illustrated the book is arranged in categories that cover nearly every action performed by an automaton since antiquity, revealing for the first time many previously unrecorded mechanisms.  The  movements are grouped into actions of ‘The Human Body’,  ‘Animals & Birds’, ‘ The Natural World’ and other activities common for automata. These automata were originally designed by craftsmen who regarded their designs as secrets and devoted their lives to making automata come alive. Each section concludes with modern examples by the very best makers of today.

As well as a written record of these lost movements ‘Secrets of Automata’ is a ‘How it is done’ exposé of the principle behind each movement, offering the modern maker a proven mechanical concept to adapt for their own automaton, or simply to satisfy the curiosity of those who see an automaton ‘writing a poem’ or ‘breathing’ and ask themselves “How did it do that?.