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Isaac Asimov's Caliban
The ''Robot'' Series is a series of 37 science fiction short stories and six novels created by American writer Isaac Asimov; the books were published between 1940 and 1995. The series is set in a world where sentient positronic robots serve a number of purposes in society. To ensure their loyalty, the Three Laws of Robotics are programmed into these robots, with the intent of preventing them from ever becoming a danger to humanity. Later, Asimov would merge the ''Robot'' series with his ''Foundation'' series. Robot Novels and Stories The series started with the story "Robbie" in the September 1940 ''Super Science Stories'' (appearing under the title "Strange Playfellow", which was not Asimov's title). Although it was originally written as a stand-alone story, the following year Asimov published a series of additional robot stories, which fit into a narrative that was then put together as the book ''I, Robot''. List of works in the Robot Series, in chronological order by na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. A prolific writer, he wrote or edited more than 500 books. He also wrote an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. Best known for his hard science fiction, Asimov also wrote mystery fiction, mysteries and fantasy, as well as popular science and other non-fiction. Asimov's most famous work is the ''Foundation (book series), Foundation'' series, the first three books of which won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966. His other major series are the ''Galactic Empire series, Galactic Empire'' series and the ''Robot series, Robot'' series. The ''Galactic Empire'' novels are set in the much earlier history of the same fictional universe as the ''Foundation'' series. Later, with ''Foundation an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bicentennial Man
"The Bicentennial Man" is a novelette in the ''Robot'' series by American writer Isaac Asimov. According to the foreword in ''Robot Visions'', Asimov was approached to write a story, along with a number of other authors who would do the same, for a science fiction collection to be published in honor of the United States Bicentennial. However, the arrangement fell through, leaving Asimov's the only story actually completed for the project. Asimov sold the story to Judy-Lynn del Rey, who made some small changes to the text. Asimov restored the original text when the story was collected in '' The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories'' (1976).Asimov, I. (1990) ''The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories'', VGSF, pp. 133–134 The story formed the basis of the novel '' The Positronic Man'' (1992), co-written with Robert Silverberg, and the 1999 film '' Bicentennial Man'', starring Robin Williams. In terms of setting, this novelette spans a time period of 200 years. Chapter 13 of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term ''Cold war (term), cold war'' is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and Nuclear arms race, nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, Economic sanctions, embargoes, and sports diplomacy. After the end of World War II in 1945, during which the US and USSR had been allies, the USSR installed satellite state, satellite governments in its occupied territories in Eastern Europe and N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Let's Get Together (short Story)
Let's Get Together may refer to: Books * "Let's Get Together" (short story), a story by Isaac Asimov Music Albums * ''Let's Get Together'' (Tammy Wynette album), 1977 * ''Let's Get Together'' (Dickey Betts Band album), 2001 Songs * "Let's Get Together" (Hayley Mills song) * "Get Together" (Youngbloods song), also known as "Let's Get Together" * "Let's Get Together", a song by Alexander O'Neal * "Let's Get Together", a song by Eddie Cochran from '' Legendary Masters Series'' * "Let's Get Together", a song by Girl Authority from ''Road Trip'' * "Let's Get Together", a song by KC and the Sunshine Band from '' KC Ten'' * "Let's Get Together", a song by Newton Faulkner from the album '' Rebuilt by Humans'' See also * "Let's Get Together Now Let's Get Together Now is the official local song of the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan. Performed by the Supergroup Voice of Korea/Japan (Lena Park and Brown Eyes from South Korea and Sowelu and Chemistry from Japan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victory Unintentional
"Victory Unintentional" is a humorous science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in the August 1942 issue of ''Super Science Stories'' and included in the collections ''The Rest of the Robots'' (1964) and ''The Complete Robot'' (1982). Background Written in January and February 1942, "Victory Unintentional" is a sequel to a non-robot story, " Not Final!". John W. Campbell of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' so disliked the story that he rejected it with the chemical formula for butyl mercaptan. Campbell knew the chemistry graduate-student Asimov would understand this as saying that the story stank. Asimov sold it to ''Super Science Stories'' in March, which published the story in August 1942. It was the last story he wrote for 14 months, as he became busy with graduate school, got a job at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and met and married Gertrude Blugerman. Plot Human colonists on Ganymede send three extremely hardy and durable robots, ZZ One, ZZ Two, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foundation Universe
The ''Foundation'' universe is the future history of humanity's colonization of the galaxy, spanning nearly 25,000 years, created through the gradual fusion of the ''Robot'', '' Galactic Empire'', and '' Foundation'' book series written by American author Isaac Asimov. Works set in the universe Asimov's ''Greater Foundation'' series Merging the ''Robot'', the ''Empire'' and the ''Foundation'' series The ''Foundation'' series is set in the same universe as Asimov's first published novel, '' Pebble in the Sky'', although ''Foundation'' takes place about 10,000 years later. ''Pebble in the Sky'' became the basis for the ''Galactic Empire'' series. Then, at some unknown date (prior to writing ''Foundation's Edge'') Asimov decided to merge the ''Foundation''/''Galactic Empire'' series with his ''Robot'' series. Thus, all three series are set in the same universe, giving them a combined length of 18 novels, and a total of about 1,500,000 words. The merge also created a time-spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Positronic Brain
A positronic brain is a fictional technological device, originally conceived by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It functions as a central processing unit (CPU) for robots, and, in some unspecified way, provides them with a form of consciousness recognizable to humans. When Asimov wrote his first robot stories in 1939 and 1940, the positron was a newly discovered particle, and so the buzz word "positronic" added a scientific connotation to the concept. Asimov's 1942 short story " Runaround" elaborates his fictional Three Laws of Robotics, which are ingrained in the positronic brains of nearly all of his robots. Conceptual overview Asimov remained vague about the technical details of positronic brains except to assert that their substructure was formed from an alloy of platinum and iridium. They were said to be vulnerable to radiation and apparently involve a type of volatile memory (since robots in storage required a power source keeping their brains "alive"). The focus o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robot
A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, control may be embedded within. Robots may be constructed to evoke Humanoid robot, human form, but most robots are task-performing machines, designed with an emphasis on stark functionality, rather than expressive aesthetics. Robots can be autonomous robot, autonomous or semi-autonomous and range from humanoids such as Honda's ''Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility'' (ASIMO) and TOSY's ''TOSY Ping Pong Playing Robot'' (TOPIO) to industrial robots, robot-assisted surgery, medical operating robots, patient assist robots, dog therapy robots, collectively programmed Swarm robotics, ''swarm'' robots, UAV drones such as General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, and even microscopic Nanorobotics, nanorobots. By mimicking a lifelike appearance or automating mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robots And Empire
''Robots and Empire'' is a science fiction novel by the American author Isaac Asimov, published by Doubleday Books in 1985. It is part of Asimov's ''Robot'' series, which consists of many short stories (collected in ''I, Robot'', ''The Rest of the Robots'', ''The Complete Robot'', '' Robot Dreams'', ''Robot Visions'', and ''Gold'') and five novels (including '' The Positronic Man'', '' The Caves of Steel'', '' The Naked Sun'', and '' The Robots of Dawn''). ''Robots and Empire'' is part of Asimov's consolidation of his three major series of science fiction stories and novels into a single future history: his ''Robot'' series, his ''Galactic Empire'' series and his ''Foundation'' series. (Asimov also carried out this unification in '' Foundation's Edge'' and its sequel.) In the novel, Asimov depicts the transition from his earlier Milky Way Galaxy, inhabited by both human beings and positronic robots, to his Galactic Empire. The galaxy of his earlier trilogy of ''Robot'' no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Robots Of Dawn
''The Robots of Dawn'' is a "whodunit" science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, first published in 1983. It is the third novel in Asimov's ''Robot'' series. Plot summary Detective Elijah Baley of Earth is training with his son and others to overcome their socially ingrained agoraphobia when he is told that the Spacer world of Aurora has requested him to investigate a crime: the destruction of the mind of R. Jander Panell, a humaniform robot identical to R. Daneel Olivaw, with a mental block. The robot's inventor, Han Fastolfe, has admitted that he is the only person with the skill to have done this, but denies having done so. Fastolfe is also a prominent member of the Auroran political faction that favors Earth; therefore, it is politically expedient that he be exonerated. En route to Aurora, Baley again is partnered with R. Daneel Olivaw, and introduced to R. Giskard Reventlov, a robot of an earlier model. On Aurora, he interviews Gladia Delmarre, R. Jande ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mirror Image (short Story)
''"Mirror Image"'' is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, originally published in the May 1972 issue of ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact''. It was later collected in ''The Best of Isaac Asimov'' (1973), ''The Complete Robot'' (1982), ''Robot Visions'' (1990), and '' The Complete Stories, Volume 2'' (1992). After receiving many requests to continue the story of detective Elijah Baley and his robot partner R. Daneel Olivaw, featured in his earlier novels '' The Caves of Steel'' and ''The Naked Sun ''The Naked Sun'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, the second in his ''Robot'' series. Like its predecessor, '' The Caves of Steel'', this is a whodunit story. It was first published in book form in 1957 after being ...'', Asimov wrote this short detective story. Following its publication, he received numerous letters from readers stating, "Thanks, but we mean a ''novel''." Plot summary Baley is unexpectedly contacted by Dane ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Naked Sun
''The Naked Sun'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, the second in his ''Robot'' series. Like its predecessor, '' The Caves of Steel'', this is a whodunit story. It was first published in book form in 1957 after being serialized in ''Astounding Science Fiction'' between October and December 1956. Plot The story arises from the murder of Rikaine Delmarre, a prominent "fetologist" (fetal scientist), responsible for the operation of the planetary birthing center of Solaria, a planet politically hostile to Earth, whose death Elijah Baley is called to investigate, at the request of the Solarian government. He is again partnered with the humanoid robot R. Daneel Olivaw, and asked by Earth's government to assess the Solarian society for weaknesses. The book focuses on the unusual traditions, customs, and culture of Solarian society. The planet has a rigidly controlled population of 20,000, and all work is done by robots, which outnumber humans ten thousan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
