JOSEPH MICKLEY AND THE TURK 上市 Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 20, May 18, 2003, Article 12
JOSEPH MICKLEY AND THE TURK
A letter to the Editor in the May 19th issue of COIN WORLD
makes reference to American numismatist Joseph Mickley.
The writer is Dr. Gerald M. Levitt, author of the 2000 book
"The Turk, Chess Automaton.""The Turk" was a mysterious contraption created in 1769 by a
Hungarian nobleman named Wolfgang von Kempelen. "The
Turk" was a mechanical man positioned over a chessboard.
In performances, Kempelen would open it to reveal a rat's
nest of gears and machinery, then challenge audience members
to play the Turk. Very few were able to beat it. Audiences
were baffled and many concluded that they'd witnessed a
machine that could think. Napoleon and Charles Babbage,
inventor of an early computing machine, played games against
the Turk. Edgar Allan Poe wrote essay about it. In 1826 a
later owner brought the machine to America, and in 1854, it
was destroyed in a fire.At the end of Levitt's letter he mentions that "Joseph Mickley,
the noted American coin collector, is closely associated with
Turk history." Can anyone tell us the connection?A web search turned up the fact that a reproduction of The
Turk has been created and it "will make an appearance at
the National Open Chess Tournament at the Riviera Hotel
in Las Vegas on Saturday, June 14, 2003. There will be no
charge for admission. Performances are scheduled at 9 a.m.
and at 4 p.m." See http://rfeditor.tripod.com/turk0303.html- 2003-05-18
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