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An android is a robot or synthetic organism designed to look and act like a human, especially one with a body having a flesh-like resemblance.〔 Historically, androids remained completely within the domain of science fiction, frequently seen in film and television. Only recently have advancements in robot technology allowed the design of functional and realistic humanoid robots.〔Ishiguro, Hiroshi. ("Android science." ), ''Cognitive Science Society'', Osaka, 2005. Retrieved on 3 October 2013.〕 ==Etymology== The word was coined from the Greek root ἀνδρ- 'man' (male, as opposed to anthrop- = human being) and the suffix ''-oid'' 'having the form or likeness of'.〔Oxford English Dictionary, Draft Revision, December 2008〕 The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' traces the earliest use (as "Androides") to Ephraim Chambers' ''Cyclopaedia,'' in reference to an automaton that St. Albertus Magnus allegedly created.〔〔''OED'' at "android" citing Ephraim Chambers, ''Cyclopædia; or, a universal dictionary of arts and sciences.'' 1728.〕 The term "android" appears in US patents as early as 1863 in reference to miniature human-like toy automatons.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Patent# 40891, ''Toy Automation'' )〕 The term ''android'' was used in a more modern sense by the French author Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam in his work ''Tomorrow's Eve'' (1886).〔 This story features an artificial humanlike robot named Hadaly. As said by the officer in the story, "In this age of Realien advancement, who knows what goes on in the mind of those responsible for these mechanical dolls." The term made an impact into English pulp science fiction starting from Jack Williamson's ''The Cometeers'' (1936) and the distinction between mechanical robots and fleshy androids was popularized by Edmond Hamilton's Captain Future (1940–1944).〔 Although Karel Čapek's robots in ''R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)'' (1921)—the play that introduced the word ''robot'' to the world—were organic artificial humans, the word "robot" has come to primarily refer to mechanical humans, animals, and other beings.〔 The term "android" can mean either one of these,〔 while a cyborg ("cybernetic organism" or "bionic man") would be a creature that is a combination of organic and mechanical parts. The term "droid", popularized by George Lucas in the original ''Star Wars'' film and now used widely within science fiction, originated as an abridgment of "android", but has been used by Lucas and others to mean any robot, including distinctly non-human form machines like R2-D2. The word "android" was used in ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" The abbreviation "andy", coined as a pejorative by writer Philip K. Dick in his novel ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'', has seen some further usage, such as within the TV series ''Total Recall 2070''. Authors have used the term ''android'' in more diverse ways than ''robot'' or ''cyborg''. In some fictional works, the difference between a robot and android is only their appearance, with androids being made to look like humans on the outside but with robot-like internal mechanics.〔 In other stories, authors have used the word "android" to mean a wholly organic, yet artificial, creation.〔 Other fictional depictions of androids fall somewhere in between.〔 Eric G. Wilson, who defines androids as a "synthetic human being", distinguishes between three types of androids, based on their body's composition: * the mummy type - where androids are made of "dead things" or "stiff, inanimate, natural material", such as mummies, puppets, dolls and statues * the golem type - androids made from flexible, possibly organic material, including golems and homunculi * the automaton type - androids which are a mix of dead and living parts, including automatons and robots〔 Although human morphology is not necessarily the ideal form for working robots, the fascination in developing robots that can mimic it can be found historically in the assimilation of two concepts: ''simulacra'' (devices that exhibit likeness) and ''automata'' (devices that have independence). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Android (robot)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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