An android is an artificially created being that resembles a human being. The word derives from Greek Andr- 'man, human' and the suffix -eides used to mean 'of the species, kind, alike' (from eidos 'species').

The word droid, a robot in the Star Wars universe, is derived from this meaning. Some people maintain that, etymologically, the word android means resembling a male human and that a robot resembling a woman should logically be called a gynoid if Censored page is to be avoided; however, this word is not commonly used.

Unlike the terms robot (a mechanical being) and cyborg (a being that is partly organic and partly mechanical), the word android has been used in literature and other media to denote several different kinds of man-made, autonomous creations:

• a robot that closely resembles a human
• a cyborg that closely resembles a human
• an artificially created, yet primarily organic, being that closely resembles a human

Although essentially human morphology is not 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.

The term android was first used by the French author Mathias Villiers de l'Isle-Adam (1838-1889) in his work Tomorrow's Eve, featuring a man-made human-like 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."

Although Karel Capek'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. 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.

Androids in fiction

Thus far, androids have remained mostly within the domain of science fiction. However, some "humanoid robots" exist.

Issac Asimov's robot stories are mostly about androids; many are collected in I, Robot (1950). They promulgated a set of rules of ethics for androids and robots (see Three Laws of Robotics) that greatly influenced other writers and thinkers in their treatment of the subject. Most of Asimov's robots appear too artificial to be mistaken for human beings, with the notable exceptions of R. Jander Panell, R. Daneel Olivaw and Andrew Martin.

Perhaps the most famous android is Data (played by actor Brent Spiner) of the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 to 1994) and several spin-off motion pictures.

Many more examples may be found in this list of fictional robots.

References

• Kerman, Judith B. (1991). Retrofitting Blade Runner: Issues in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. ISBN 0879725095
• Shelde, Per (1993). Androids, Humanoids, and Other Science Fiction Monsters: Science and Soul in Science Fiction Films. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0814779301

External links

• Android World http://www.androidworld.com/