Rough sketch of list themes (WIP):

Automata as wonders/marvels.
- Kinds of automata: clocks, toys, musical instruments, orreries, etc.
- Masks as automata.
Mechanical philosophy.
- Mechanism vs. Organicism/Holism/Vitalism in the history of ideas.
- Hermeneutic aspects (interpreting and understanding phenomena as machines):
  - Metaphor and analogy in robotics and biology.
  - Biomechanics, iatromechanics.
  - Engineering inspiration from nature.
  - Co-evolution of humans and machines.
  - Different genealogies of ideas to wonder/spectacle, e.g. robot as slave labor.
- Recent analytic philosophy of mechanism aka "the new mechanical philosophy".
- Literature and scifi that touch on the above subjects.

Robots and robotics.
- Practical SWE books for robotics
  - Associated tech: C++, Python, ROS, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Elixir (Nerves framework)
- Human-Robot Interaction.
- Things in robotics I know nothing about, but wish to know more: planning and decision making, basic kinematics and dynamics, vision and sensors, others?

Related lists:

The Railway Journey

Bookshelves