Although advanced technologies are the cornerstone of modern life, few people understand how such technologies as robotics or nuclear science actually work. Fewer still realize how-and how dramatically-technology influences our society and culture. Robotics is a reference guide that provides nonspecialists with the most up-to-date information on seminal developments in the technology of robotics, as well as covering the social, political, and technical impacts of those developments on everyday life, both now and in the future.