Karel Čapek (pronounced  ^{KARel CHAP-ek}; IPA: ['tʃapek]) (January 9, 1890 - December 25, 1938) was one of the most important Czech writers of the 20th century. He introduced and made popular the frequently used international word robot, which first appeared in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) in 1920. The true inventor of the term robot was Karel's brother Josef Čapek. To play the audio file do not click on the -image. ... Symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1890 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining. ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... A humanoid robot playing the trumpet In practical usage, a robot is a mechanical device which performs automated tasks, either according to direct human supervision, a pre-defined program or, a set of general guidelines, using artificial intelligence techniques. ... R.U.R. (Rosumovi Umělí Roboti) (Rossums Artificial Robots, but usually translated as R.U.R. (Rossums Universal Robots) to preserve the acronym) is a science fiction play by Karel Čapek. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Josef Čapek (1887 – 1945), Czech artist. ...

Karel Čapek

Čapek was born in Malé Svatoňovice, then Austria-Hungary, now Czech Republic. Karel Capek File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ...

Life and work

Karel Čapek wrote with intelligence and humor on a wide variety of subjects. His works are known not only for interesting and exact descriptions of reality, but also for his excellent work with the Czech language. He is perhaps best known as a science fiction author, who wrote long before science fiction became established as a separate genre. He can be counted as one of the founders of classical non-hardcore European science fiction, which focuses on possible future (or alternative) social and human evolution on Earth, rather than technically advanced stories of space travel. However, it is best to class him with Aldous Huxley and George Orwell as a mainstream literary figure who used science-fiction motifs. The Czech language is one of the West Slavic languages, along with Slovak, Polish, Pomeranian, and Sorbian. ... Note that this partial list contains some authors whose works of fantastic fiction would today be called science fiction, even if they predate, or did not work in that genre. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963) was a British writer who emigrated to the United States. ... George Orwell George Orwell was the pen name of British author Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950). ...

Many of his works discuss ethical and other aspects of the revolutionary inventions and processes that were already expected in the first half of 20th century. These included mass production, atomic weapons, and post-human intelligent beings such as robots or intelligent salamanders. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardised products on production lines. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... This page is about the animal, salamander. ...

In this, Čapek was also expressing fear of upcoming social disasters, dictatorship, violence, and unlimited power of corporations, and trying to find some hope for human beings. Čapek's literary heirs include Ray Bradbury, Salman Rushdie, and possibly Brian Aldiss and Dan Simmons. Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler were two of the 20th centurys most notorious dictators. ... A corporation is a legal entity (distinct from a natural person) that often has similar rights in law to those of a Civil law systems may refer to corporations as moral persons; they may also go by the name AS (anonymous society) or something similar, depending on language (see below). ... Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (born August 22, 1920) is a science fiction and fantasy writer of Swedish descent. ... Salman Rushdie Salman Rushdie (born June 19, 1947, in Bombay, India) is an essayist and author of fiction, most of which is set on the Indian subcontinent. ... Brian Wilson Aldiss (born August 18, 1925 in East Dereham, Norfolk) is a prolific English author of both general fiction and science fiction. ... Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948 in Peoria, Illinois) is an author most widely known for his Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel Hyperion and its sequel The Fall of Hyperion. ...

His other books and plays include detective stories, novels, fairy tales and theatre plays, and even a book on gardening. The most important works try to resolve the problem of epistemology, or "What is knowledge?": The Tales from Two Pockets, and first of all the trilogy of novels Hordubal, Meteor and An Ordinary Life. Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centres upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... A fairy tale is a story, either told to children or as if told to children, concerning the adventures of mythical characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and others. ... A play (noun) is a common form of literature, usually consisting chiefly of dialog between characters, and usually intended for performance rather than reading. ... Gardening is an activity—the art and craft of growing plants—most often taking place in or about ones residence, in a space referred to as the garden. ... Epistemology, from the Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge. ...

Later, in the 1930s, Čapek's work focused on the threat of brutal Nazi and fascist (but also communist) dictatorships. His most productive years corresponded with the existence of the first republic of Czechoslovakia (1918-1938). He wrote Talks with T.G. Masaryk, a Czech patriot and first President of Czechoslovakia and a regular guest at Čapek's Friday garden parties for Czech patriots. This extraordinary relationship between the great author and the great political leader is perhaps unique, and is known to have been an inspiration to Václav Havel. Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented First atom was split with a particle accelerator Golden Age of radio begins in U.S. Disney adopts a three-color Technicolor process for cartoons First Kit Kat in UK The photocopier is invented by Carlson Air mail service across the Atlantic Science... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, refers to the right-wing authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (sometimes called Thomas Masaryk in English) (March 7, 1850 - September 14, 1937) advocated Czechoslovak independence and became the first President of Czechoslovakia. ... Meanings of Patriot: Patriotism The Patriot, movie The MIM-104 Patriot missile system a code word used by Nazis to signify Nazi The United States Patriot Act In the American Revolutionary War, those who supported the American cause, were called Patriots. ... This is a list of presidents of Czechoslovakia. ... Václav Havel [VAHTS-lav HA-vel] (born October 5, 1936) is a Czech writer and dramatist. ...

Karel Čapek died in the December preceding the outbreak of World War II and was interred in the Vysehrad cemetery in Prague. Soon after, it became clear that the Western allies had refused to help defend Czechoslovakia against Hitler. He refused to eat or leave his country and died of double pneumonia. The Gestapo had ranked him as "public enemy number 2" in Czechoslovakia. His brother Josef Čapek, a painter and also a writer, died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Vyšehrad cemetery. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... Pneumonia (the ancient Greek word for lungs) is defined as an inflamation, usually caused by infection, involving the alveoli of the lungs. ... The Gestapo was the official secret police force of Nazi Germany. ... Josef Čapek (1887 – 1945), Czech artist. ... Bergen-Belsen, sometimes referred to as just Belsen, was a German concentration camp in the Nazi era. ... A concentration camp is a large detention center created for political opponents, aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. ...

After the war, Čapek's work was only reluctantly accepted by the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia, since during his life he had refused to believe in a communist utopia as a viable alternative to the threat of Nazi domination. See Utopia (disambiguation) for other meanings of this word Utopia, in its most common and general meaning, refers to a hypothetical perfect society. ...

Etymology of Robot

Etymological note: Robota is a Czech cognate of the German word Arbeit ("work"), from the Indo-European root *orbh- (http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE363.html). It is usually translated as "serf" or "forced labor" and was the name used for the so-called "labor rent" which existed in the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1848. From this word Karel Čapek's brother Josef (both brothers used to work together) created the word robot, a working or serving machine. Etymology is the study of the origins of words. ... Cognates are words that have a common origin. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The Indo-European languages include some 443 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by about three billion people, including most of the major language families of Europe and western Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. ... Official languages Latin, German, Hungarian Established church Roman Catholic Capital & Largest City Vienna pop. ...

On the science fiction cartoon show Futurama, a planet inhabited entirely by robots was named "Čapek 9", as a reference to Karel Čapek's coining of the term "robot". Futurama was an animated American cartoon series created by Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and David X. Cohen (also a writer for The Simpsons). ...

An outline of Čapek's works

Works which can be considered early science fiction:

• R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)
• The Makropulos Affair
• The Absolute at Large
• Krakatit
• War with the Newts (dystopian satire)

Anti-Nazi plays from the 1930s: R.U.R. (Rosumovi Umělí Roboti) (Rossums Artificial Robots, but usually translated as R.U.R. (Rossums Universal Robots) to preserve the acronym) is a science fiction play by Karel Čapek. ... The Makropulos Affair (Czech Věc Makropulos) is a play written in 1922 by Karel Čapek that was turned into an opera by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček. ... The Absolute at Large (Továrna na absolutno in the original Czech), better translated as The Factory of Absolute, is a science fiction story by Czech author Karel Čapek. ... War with the Newts (Válka s mloky in the original Czech), also translated as War with the Salamanders, is a science fiction story by Czech author Karel Čapek. ... A dystopia (alternatively, cacotopia or kakotopia) is the antithesis of a utopian society. ... Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ...

• The Mother
• The White Disease (earlier translated as Power and Glory)

Some other works: The White Disease (Bílá nemoc in the original Czech) is a play written by Czech novelist Karel Čapek. ...

• The Gardener's Year (1929) is exactly what it says, a year-round guide to gardening, charmingly written, with illustrations by his brother Josef Čapek.
• Pictures from the Insects' Life, also known as Insect Play, with Josef Čapek, a satire in which insects stand in for various human characteristics: the flighty, vain butterfly, the obsequious, self serving dung beetle.
• Apocryphal Stories, short stories about literary and historical characters, such as Hamlet, a struggling playwright, Pontius Pilate, Don Juan, Alexander arguing with his teacher Aristotle, and Sarah and Abraham attempting to name ten good people so Sodom can be saved: "What do you have against Namuel? He's stupid but he's pious."
• Nine Fairy Tales: And One More Thrown in for Good Measure
• Dashenka, or the Life of a Puppy (Dášeňka)

1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Symphypleona - globular springtails Subclass Archaeognatha (jumping bristletails) Subclass Dicondylia Monura - extinct Thysanura (common bristletails) Subclass Pterygota Diaphanopteroidea - extinct Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Blattodea (cockroaches) Mantodea (mantids) Isoptera (termites) Zoraptera Grylloblattodea Dermaptera (earwigs) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets... Families Superfamily Hesperioidea: Hesperiidae Superfamily Papilionoidea: Papilionidae Pieridae Nymphalidae Lycaenidae Riodinidae A butterfly is a flying insect of the order Lepidoptera belonging to one of the superfamilies Hesperioidea (the skippers) and Papilionoidea (all other butterflies). ... Genera not a complete list Agestrata Augosoma Canthon Chalcosoma Chelorrhina Cheirolasia Cheirotonus Cotinis Dynastes Eudicella Goliathus Megsoma Onthophagus Pachnoda Phanaeus Plusiotis Ranzania Rhomborrhina Stephanorrhina Xylotrupes The scarab is a type of beetle noted for rolling dung into spherical balls and pushing it, as well as its habit of laying its... The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and one of his most well-known and oft-quoted plays. ... Pontius Pilate (Latin Pontius Pilatus) was the governor of the small Roman province of Judea from AD 26 until around 36 AD, although Tacitus believed him to be the procurator of that province. ... poonany feels good! ... Bust of Alexander III in the British Museum. ... Aristotle (sculpture) Aristotle (Greek: Αριστοτέλης Aristotelēs) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher. ... Sarah (שָׂרָה Princess, Standard Hebrew Sara, Tiberian Hebrew Śārāh) is a biblical matriarch and the wife of Abraham, the patriarch of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. ... Abraham (אַבְרָהָם Father/Leader of many, Standard Hebrew Avraham, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAḇrāhām; Arabic ابراهيم Ibrāhīm) is the patriarch of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... Sodom redirects here. ...

Selected bibliography

• The Absolute at Large, 1922 (in Czech), June 1975, Garland Publishing ISBN 0-824-01403-0
• Apocryphal Tales, 1945 (in Czech), May 1997, Catbird Press Paperback ISBN 0-945-77434-6, Translated by Norma Comrada
• An Atomic Phantasy: Krakatit or simply Krakatit, 1924 (in Czech)
• Nine Fairy Tales: And One More Thrown in for Good Measure, October 1996, Northwestern Univ Press Paperback Reissue Edition, ISBN 0-810-11464-X. Illustrated by Josef Capek, Translated by Dagmar Herrmann
• R.U.R, March 1970, Pocket Books ISBN 0-671-46605-4
• Tales from Two Pockets
• Short story collection, Mystery (nsf) Translated by Norma Comrada June 194, Catbird Press Paperback ISBN 0-945-77425-7
• Talks With T.G. Masaryk Non-fiction. Biography of Masaryk, founder of Czechoslovakia.
• Three Novels: Hordubal, Meteor, An Ordinary Lifes NSF? Translated by M. and R. Weatherall
• Toward the Radical Center: A Karel Capek Reader. Collection of stories, playes and columns. Edited by Peter Kussi, Catbird Press ISBN 0-945-77407-9
• War With the Newts 1936 (in Czech), May 1967, Berkley Medallion Edition Paperback. Translated by M. & R. Weatherall, March 1990, Catbird Press paperback, ISBN 0-945-77410-9, October 1996, Northwestern University Press paperback ISBN 0-810-11468-2

External links

• Overview (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/capek.htm)
• A comprehensive website on Čapek (http://capek.misto.cz/english/)
• Karel Čapek, 1890--1938 (http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/notebooks/capek.html) - brief biography, with information about the writer's plays and novels
• Further links (http://www.karelcapek.com/)
• Karel Čapek page at Catbird Press, a publisher of several Čapek translations (http://www.catbirdpress.com/authorpages/capek.htm)
• An album, with an excerpt from R.U.R (http://www.natur.cuni.cz/~vpetr/Capek.htm)