Daniel Wilson is angling to be the Max Brooks of robots, having written How to Survive a Robot Uprising and How to Build a Robot Army: Tips on Defending Planet Earth Against Aliens, Ninjas and Zombies (he also happens to have a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon). His latest manuscript, Robopocalypse, sounds like the robotic answer to Brooks' World War Z, describing human life after a robot uprising.

DreamWorks and Doubleday have snapped up the movie and publishing rights respectively, and it sounds like it won't be too long before we're fleeing from swarms of nanobots and our household appliances. DreamWorks spokesman Mark Sourian cited the manuscript's "frightening level of realism," so hopefully we'll get a richer view of the robot apocalypse than we saw in Terminator Salvation.

[Variety]

Wilson did a guest-blogging spot over at BSG special effects supremo Darth Mojo's blog, and he explained exactly how to cope with a Cylon uprising, in particular:

In the world of Battlestar Galactica, human beings have sadly neglected their faithful robot servants and, as a result, have been decimated by a massive robot uprising on their homeworld of Caprica. Life must go on, however, even post-robot uprising. Therefore, in a spirit of helpfulness and support I have assembled a few key tips on surviving Cylon encounters. Enjoy, and good luck out there!

BE A GOOD ROLE MODEL

Most robots are misunderstood and do not start out as innately violent beings. Before they decide to attack, they must first judge humankind as unworthy. So, as a sentient being, try to set a good example. Don't hit your servant robot, call it names, or force it to wear silly outfits. In many ways, Cylons are like gullible, rosy-cheeked little children – except with lethal cannon-arms and cold emotionless hearts of battle-hardened steel.

KEEP AN EYE ON THE ROBOTS, FOR THE GODS' SAKE!!

If a rapidly evolving race of aggressive robotic creatures rebel and disappear into space for forty years, be sure to assign a person to follow them. This way, you can ensure that they aren't lurking in the empty wastes of the interstellar void, building a massive, glinting robot army bent on the complete eradication of humankind. Heck, go ahead and assign two people.

The best part is where he explains how to tell if you're actually a Cylon sleeper agent. (For example, if "you can't listen to Bob Dylan without wishing for more sitar.") Check it out. [Darth Mojo]

Funny and filled with good, crunchy facts, The Mad Scientist Hall of Fame is like "Behind the Music" for scientists. We learn a little about the scientists' brilliance, and then discover how it all went terribly, terribly wrong. Plus, about half the scientists that Wilson and Long discuss are fictional, which gives the profiles of real-life scientists a delightful, sensationalistic flair.

Each chapter gives you a little backstory about the scientist and then analyzes just how mad they really were. The armchair psychologizing of the fictional scientists is especially amusing. Here's a snippet from the analysis of Dr. No, of James Bond fame:

High levels of intelligence and control (not to mention nuclear capacity) are dangerous weapons in the hands of a scientist who exhibits severe symptoms of antisocial and narcissistic personality disorder.

Mixed in with the pop culture analysis of scientists like The Fly's Seth Brundle and Dr. Evil are factual discussions of psychology and even nuclear physics.

Despite the inherently amusing idea of putting Captain Nemo and Dr. Moreau on the analyst's couch, the chapters on real-life scientists are far more riveting than the ones about fictional characters. We are treated to a fascinating account of Stanley Milgram, the man who became famous in the 1950s for testing how people would respond when told to shock a person to death in a lab experiment (the people "shocked" were actors who were told to act like they were in pain and dying). Many of the people Milgram tested continued to shock a person they were convinced was dying, simply because an authority figure (Milgram himself, in his white lab coat) told them to do it.

And as I mentioned earlier, Wilson and Long's account of Jack Whiteside Parsons was amazing — I wish there were a whole book (or an episode of "Behind the Science") about him. While he was at the helm of the lab that builds U.S. spaceships to this day, he was an active member of the Church of Thelema, founded by "magick" practitioner Aleister Crowley. He also threw hedonistic sex parties at his house. Parsons' wife Helen was in a polyamorous relationship with both Parsons and L. Ron Hubbard, and the three lived together in a large house along with other members of their local Church of Thelema congregation. Whoa, way to go Parsons. I never knew rocket science was so naughty.

Don't even get me started on Sidney Gottlieb, the scientist and CIA agent who was famous for dosing everybody with L.S.D. to "see what would happen."

If you love bizarro science and true crime novels, The Mad Scientist Hall of Fame will deliver a strong dose of both and keep you up late reading. If the analysis of fictional madness begins to seem twee, just skip to the real-life stuff and be amazed.

Mad Scientist Hall of Fame [via Amazon]

What kind of alien attack is Earth the least prepared for?

I'm going to go out on a limb and claim that Earth is desperately unprepared for any kind of alien attack. That includes national monument shattering Independence Day-style attacks, treacherous human-cloning Invasion of the Body Snatchers-style assaults, and also lethal laser-spewing War of the Worlds-style incursions. Remember this: Whether the aliens are hiding in hovering saucers, blending in with the human populace, or attacking helpless humans door-to-door - there is a robot defense, whether it be spying micro-air vehicles, infectious nano-robots, or faithful unmanned ground vehicles. And of course, the robots can also protect us from zombies, werewolves, and super-intelligent great white sharks.

In your new book, you offer a lot of helpful, concrete advice on building a robot army to defeat alien invaders. But shouldn't we be forming armies of bioengineered defenders too? What would be your first pick for a life form we should reengineer for alien defense?

Bugs. Just like robots, bugs are covered in armored exoskeletons, impervious to having their legs ripped off, and I'm pretty sure that they haven't got any feelings. How to Build a Robot Army doesn't pay much attention to genetic modification, but it puts a whole lot of thought into how to upgrade biological creatures with robotic modifications. Here's a fun fact to know and tell: Scientists believe that by implanting a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) at the pupa stage, insects will integrate the devices seamlessly into their bodies as they grow - like a tree growing through a fence. Hmmm... Let's take a peek into my Bag of the Future. What's that? It's full of robot scorpions!

While I'm sure a title like How to Build a Robot Army is popular here on Earth, and it makes sense to market it to humans, I'd like to know what titles you're marketing on other planets. Have you written books for robots and aliens about how to crush Earthlings? Tell us about those books, and some of the advice you give to nonhumans that we're not getting here on Earth.

Originally, I had planned to write a book called "A Robot's Guide to Life with Humans." (And I still might, so hands off!) The goal was to explain how the world works from a robot's perspective, so that readers could really understand how robots think. Then I realized that it would be more fun and just as informative if I were to write a book that taught humans how to work with robots - hand in gripper - as a fighting team. In order to give a command to a robot, teach a robot karate, or modify a household robot for battle you have to understand the little plastic critters inside and out.

OK, and now for the question in everybody's minds: Who would win in a fight between Giant Robot and Cloverfield?

Metal beats flesh. The book covers a similar scenario, describing how to defeat Godzilla. The secret is: Don't send in a Giant Robot! That would be just silly. First, keep a legion of autonomous underwater vehicles out patrolling the oceans. (Giant monsters almost always emerge from the seas.) As soon as the monster appears, send thousands of flying micro-air vehicles toward it to collect information. Unmanned aerial vehicles are too large and will likely be destroyed just like conventional aircraft, but a swarm of six-inch spying eyes are too small for Cloverfield to even notice. Once a weakness has been identified, send in mining robots that are loaded with swarms of smaller, crab-like burrowing robots, explosives-laden suicide robots, and robots with sensing and communications equipment. Using a mix of human telepresence and robot autonomy, this heterogenous team of robot troops can find weak spots in Cloverfield's skin, burrow deeply toward vital organs or brain matter, and detonate in a series of controlled explosions. Now we humans can eat the carcass for the next hundred years. The great circle of life is complete!

Wilson is a master of making mechanical science and engineering fun — and he's clearly watched a lot of scifi movies and wondered, "How would that work in real life?" The best parts of the book are where he combines his engineering background with scifi scenarios, explaining how to use current, cutting-edge tech like exoskeletons, unmanned aerial vehicles, and battlefield robots, in order to defeat werewolves, ninjas and pirates.

Perfect for kids and nerds of all ages, this book is like futurism for science fiction lovers. You can pick up one of these indispensable survival guides here.