Gearheads The Turbulent Rise of Robotic Sports
, by Stone, BradNote: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780743229517 | 0743229517
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 3/10/2003
In the early nineties, a visionary special-effects guru named Marc Thorpe conjured a field of dreams different from any the world had seen before: It would be framed by unbreakable plastic instead of cornstalks; populated not by ghostly ballplayers but by remote-controlled robots, armed to the steely teeth, fighting in a booby-trapped ring. If you built it, they'd come all right....InGearheads, Newsweektechnology correspondent Brad Stone examines the history of robotic sports, from their cultish early years at universities and sci-fi conventions to today's televised extravaganzas -- and the turmoil that threatened the whole enterprise almost from the beginning.By turns a lively historical narrative, a legal thriller, and an exploration of a cultural and technological phenomenon,Gearheadsis a funny and fascinating look at the sport of the future today.