The Energon Pub

I was poking around in the system some more at work today (it's been pretty slow lately ) and I came across two new Transformers related books, due out this year, that I thought some of you might be interested in...


First up is Transformers and Philosophy.

This will be the newest entry in the Pop-Culture and Philosophy Series which, if you don't know, is a series of books that examine the philosophical natures of numerous pop-culture staples (ie. South Park, Lord of the Rings, The Beatles, etc.) They are mostly entertaining and humourous but can sometimes be surprisingly profound...

Here's the info on the book:


Transformers and Philosophy

ISBN: 0812696670
ISBN-13: 9780812696677
Format: Paperback, 384pp
Publisher: Open Court Publishing Company
Pub. Date: May 01, 2009
List Price: $19.95

Transformers began with toys and a cartoon series in 1984 and has since grown to include comic books, movies, and video games — its science fiction story has reached an audience with a wide range second only to that of Star Wars. Here, in Transformers and Philosophy, a dream team of philosophers pursues the fascinating questions posed by humankind’s encounter with an artificially intelligent mechanical civilization: Is genuine artificial intelligence possible? Would a robotic civilization come with its own morality and artistic life, and would it find a need for romantic love? Should we be more careful about developing robots that may eventually develop ideas of their own? Transformers and Philosophy puts Transformers under a microscope and exposes its philosophical implications in an instantly readable way.



Next is a book entitled Transformers: The Movie Universe...There is no specific information given about this book as of yet, but the fact that it's published by DK is a likely indication that it will be a large "Visual Guide" encyclopedic type of book (much like they've done for Star Wars and Marvel, etc.)

Here's everything I know so far:


Transformers: The Movie Universe

ISBN: 0756651727
ISBN-13: 9780756651725
Format: Hardcover, 96pp
Publisher: DK Publishing, Inc.
Pub. Date: June 01, 2009
List Price: $17.99


That's all I have for now

I'm currently reading Batman and Philosophy which is a very interesting read.

Be curious to read the Transformers version.

I've always wondered how a robotic lifeform would take to being called a robot if it were aware that the word robot originated from the Czechoslovakian word for slave.

Anyway, I hope to get all those books at some stage.