The materials presented the first week serve as an introduction as to what a robot is. They also help us understand the boundaries between man and machine.

The film "Tesla, Master of Lightning" deals with an interesting individual. On one hand, Tesla was a creator, who tries to control the world around him. On the other hand, the people he worked with constantly manipulated and took advantage of him. In addition, Tesla himself attempted to "dehumanize" himself by trying to eliminate some of his human aspects, like his desire for sex and money. Tesla was therefore a robot-like human in many ways.

The Robot in the Garden reading deals with telepresence ö again testing our understanding of what a human really is.

Finally, R.U.R. challenges us with the original concept of the robot we think of today ö an artificial life form designed to work for its creator, but with the potential to overthrow the human race. By the end of the play, the robots have developed "souls" and self-awareness, and indeed do overthrow the humans who created them.

It is most likely this ãsoulä that distinguishes us from the machine ö the robot soul being a recurring theme in robot-related literature and film. Perhaps this is the border between man and machine, as the physical line between us blurs daily.