Page 16 - Anatomy of a Robot

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1

Act 1 Scene 1:
The graying professor stands in his graying tweed suit in an overly heated classroom
with high windows and ceramic tiles on the wall. The asbestos-covered steam pipes
clank and bang as he stares out from behind his ridiculously high podium over a class-
room of eager, young robot builders seated in hard, creaking wooden chairs. There is a
long silence until his lowers his glasses, leans forward, and slowly intones the follow-
ing in his best Stentorian English.
“So you want to build a robot, do you? Well, I am reminded of a wonderful scene in
the movie Young Frankenstein by Mel Brooks. The son of the famous Dr. Frankenstein
is addressed in a conversation by his proper last name pronounced ‘Frankenstein.’What
follows is an embarrassing, slow, pregnant pause in the conversation. The young doc-
tor leans forward and slowly corrects his friend, ‘That’s pronounced “frahnkensteen.”
Just what is the fascination with robots anyway? If you remember nothing else in this
book, remember this frahnkensteen phrase. Like no other, this technical field engen-
ders passion.
It’s important that you let that phrase sink in a couple of days before picking up a
screwdriver. For from passion springs forces that we cannot understand. Love, joy,

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