To mindstorms and beyond: evolution of a construction kit for magical machines

From a very early age, children find movement captivating. For centuries, we have been fascinated by the inanimate brought to life. The Jewish legend of the Golem, a hunk of clay brought to life by God, has been succeeded by the story of Frankenstein, mechanical automatons, 2001’s Hal, and a myriad of other myths. For the last fifty years, computers have allowed us to create worlds that live inside of the electronic box, creating artificial creatures in the sense of these stories. And over the last fifteen years, children have been able to play in these worlds (e.g., video games) and build in them, using tools like the Logo programming language.