R.U.R.: A Reader's Guide
Čapek's play that coined "robot" — manufactured workers, rebellion, and humanity.
Karel Čapek's R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots, 1920) — factory makes biological robots (*robota* = forced labor); they revolt, wipe out humans; two robots fall in love as new Adam and Eve.
Legacy
Word "robot" enters language; AI anxiety before computers.
Themes
Industrial dehumanization, soul in machines, class.
Short play — essential sci-fi genealogy.