|
Multivac
Multivac is the name of a fictional supercomputer appearing in over a dozen science fiction stories by American writer Isaac Asimov. Asimov's depiction of Multivac, a mainframe computer accessible by terminal, originally by specialists using machine code and later by any user, and used for directing the global economy and humanity's development, has been seen as the defining conceptualization of the genre of computers for the period (1950s–1960s). Multivac has been described as the direct ancestor of HAL 9000. Description Like most of the technologies Asimov describes in his fiction, Multivac's exact specifications vary among appearances. In all cases, it is a government-run computer that answers questions posed using natural language, and it is usually buried deep underground for security purposes. According to his autobiography ''In Memory Yet Green'', Asimov coined the name in imitation of UNIVAC, an early mainframe computer. Asimov had assumed the name "Univac" denoted a com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All The Troubles Of The World
"All the Troubles of the World" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the April 1958 issue of ''Super-Science Fiction'', and was reprinted in the 1959 collection ''Nine Tomorrows''. It is one of a loosely connected series of stories by Asimov concerning the fictional supercomputer Multivac. The story was adapted into a short movie in 1978. Multivac Multivac, the world's largest supercomputer, is given the responsibility of analyzing the entire sum of data on the planet Earth. It is used to determine solutions to economic, social and political problems, as well as more specific crises as they arise. It receives a precise set of data on every citizen of the world, extrapolating the future actions of humanity based upon the personality, history, and desires of every human being, leading to an almost complete cessation of poverty, war and political crisis. Recently, however, it has been given the new responsibility of pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Last Question
"The Last Question" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and was anthologized in the collections Nine Tomorrows (1959), The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973), Robot Dreams (1986), The Best Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov (1986), the retrospective Opus 100 (1969), and in Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories, Vol. 1 (1990). While he also considered it one of his best works, “The Last Question” was Asimov's favorite short story of his own authorship, and is one of a loosely connected series of stories concerning a fictional computer called Multivac. Through successive generations, humanity questions Multivac on the subject of entropy. The story overlaps science fiction, theology, and philosophy. History In conceiving Multivac, Asimov was extrapolating the trend towards centralization that characterized computation technology planning in the 1950s to an ultimate centrally-managed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Life And Times Of Multivac
"The Life and Times of Multivac" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the 5 January 1975 issue of ''The New York Times Magazine'', and was reprinted in the collections ''The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories'' and ''The Best of Creative Computing'' in 1976. It is one of a loosely connected series of stories concerning a fictional supercomputer called Multivac. "The Life and Times of Multivac" was the first piece of fiction ever commissioned and published by ''The New York Times''.Asimov, I. ''In Joy Still Felt Isaac Asimov (–1992) wrote three volumes of autobiography. ''In Memory Yet Green'' (1979) and ''In Joy Still Felt'' (1980) were a two-volume work, covering his life up to 1978. The third volume, ''I. Asimov: A Memoir'' (1994), published after his ...'' (Avon, 1980) page 694 Asimov's original title for the story was "Mathematical Games", but after the story appeared under the new title he decided he liked it. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Machine That Won The War (short Story)
"The Machine That Won the War" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the October 1961 issue of ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', and was reprinted in the collections '' Nightfall and Other Stories'' (1969) and ''Robot Dreams'' (1986). It was also printed in a contemporary edition of Reader's Digest, illustrated. It is one of a loosely connected series of such stories concerning a fictional supercomputer called Multivac. Plot summary (spoilers) Three influential leaders of the human race meet in the aftermath of a successful war against the Denebians. Discussing how the vast and powerful Multivac Multivac is the name of a fictional supercomputer appearing in over a dozen science fiction stories by American writer Isaac Asimov. Asimov's depiction of Multivac, a mainframe computer accessible by terminal, originally by specialists using mac ... computer was a decisive factor in the war, each of the men admits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jokester (short Story)
"Jokester" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the December 1956 issue of ''Infinity Science Fiction'', and was reprinted in the collections '' Earth Is Room Enough'' (1957) and ''Robot Dreams'' (1986). It is one of a loosely connected series of stories concerning a fictional computer called Multivac. Plot summary Noel Meyerhof is a "Grand Master", one of a small cadre of Earth's recognised geniuses, who has the insight to know what questions to ask Multivac. But a computer scientist is concerned that Meyerhof is acting erratically. As a known joke-teller, he has been discovered feeding jokes and riddles into Multivac. By computer analysis, the characters in the story investigate the origin of humour, particularly why there seems to be no such thing as an original joke, except for puns. Every normal joke is something that was originally heard from someone else. The computer eventually tells them that humour is actually a psyc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franchise (short Story)
"Franchise" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the August 1955 issue of the magazine '' If: Worlds of Science Fiction'', and was reprinted in the collections '' Earth Is Room Enough'' (1957) and ''Robot Dreams'' (1986). It is one of a loosely connected series of stories concerning a fictional computer called Multivac. It is the first story in which Asimov dealt with computers ''as computers'' and not as immobile robots. Plot summary In the future, the United States has converted to an "electronic democracy" where the computer Multivac selects a single person to answer a number of questions. Multivac will then use the answers and other data to determine what the results of an election would be, avoiding the need for an actual election to be held. The story centers around Norman Muller of Bloomington, Indiana, the man chosen as "Voter of the Year" in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Although the law requires him to accep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Question (short Story)
"Question" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the March 1955 issue of ''Computers and Automation'' (thought to be the first computer magazine), and was reprinted in the April 30, 1957, issue of '' Science World''. It is the first of a loosely connected series of stories concerning a fictional supercomputer called Multivac. The story concerns two technicians who are servicing Multivac, and their argument over whether or not the machine is truly intelligent and able to think. Multivac, however, supplies the answer on its own. After the reprint, another author, Robert Sherman Townes, noticed the climax in the last sentence was very similar to one of his own stories, "Problem for Emmy" ('' Startling Stories'', June 1952), and wrote to Asimov about it. After searching in his library, Asimov did find the original story and, although he did not recall having read it, admitted that the endings were pretty similar. He then repli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Point Of View (short Story)
"Point of View" is a short story by American writer Isaac Asimov that first appeared in ''Boys' Life'' magazine in July 1975. Due to the poor reception it received, it was only reprinted in the collection ''The Complete Robot'' in 1982. It is one of a loosely connected series of such stories concerning a fictional computer called Multivac. Plot summary Roger's father works with a supercomputer called a Multivac Multivac is the name of a fictional supercomputer appearing in over a dozen science fiction stories by American writer Isaac Asimov. Asimov's depiction of Multivac, a mainframe computer accessible by terminal, originally by specialists using mac ..., which has been malfunctioning lately as it comes up with different solutions each time to problems it is asked to solve. After coworkers tell him to take a break, he takes Roger out to lunch. His father tells him what he thinks is wrong with the Multivac, and then from this Roger decides that it is like a child, and like o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anniversary (short Story)
"Anniversary" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the March 1959 issue of ''Amazing Stories'' and subsequently appeared in the collections ''Asimov's Mysteries'' (1968) and ''The Best of Isaac Asimov'' (1973). The story was written for the twentieth anniversary of Asimov's first published story, "Marooned off Vesta", in the March 1939 issue of ''Amazing''. The magazine reprinted the earlier story with the new one, and he feared that someone would write a letter stating that the earlier's writing was better, but no one did. The story is also part of a loosely connected series of stories by Asimov about the supercomputer Multivac. Plot summary Warren Moore and Mark Brandon are two of the three survivors of the wreck of the ''Silver Queen'' in the asteroid belt. Every year, they meet on the anniversary of the disaster to celebrate their survival. On the 20th anniversary, Brandon has a surprise: he appears at Moore's house wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
My Son, The Physicist
"My Son, the Physicist" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was commissioned by Hoffman Electronics Corporation and appeared in February 1962 in ''Scientific American''. It later appeared in Asimov's collection '' Nightfall and Other Stories'' (1969). Plot summary Gerard Cremona, a communications engineer with an American space agency, is trying to maintain communication that has been established with an expedition that has apparently reached Pluto after four years in space. The difficulty lies in the significant delays for the radio signal to travel back and forth, making timely and meaningful interaction impossible. His proud mother, who happens to visit his office whilst he is wrestling with the problem, ultimately advises him to keep talking and get the expedition crew to keep talking as well. That way, although it normally takes twelve hours for radio waves to cover the distance, it is possible to have effectively continuous conversation. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Someday (short Story)
"Someday" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the August 1956 issue of ''Infinity Science Fiction'' and reprinted in the collections ''Earth Is Room Enough'' (1957), ''The Complete Robot'' (1982), ''Robot Visions'' (1990), and '' The Complete Stories, Volume 1'' (1990). Plot summary The story is set in a future where computers play a central role in organizing society. Humans are employed as computer operators, but they leave most of the thinking to machines. Indeed, whilst binary programming is taught at school, reading and writing have become obsolete. The story concerns a pair of boys who dismantle and upgrade an old ''Bard'', a child's computer whose sole function is to generate random fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dead Past
"The Dead Past" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, first published in the April 1956 issue of ''Astounding Science Fiction''. It was later collected in ''Earth Is Room Enough'' (1957) and ''The Best of Isaac Asimov'' (1973), and adapted into an episode of the science-fiction television series ''Out of the Unknown''. Its pattern is that of dystopian fiction, but of a subtly nuanced flavor. It is considered by some people to be one of his best short stories. Plot summary Asimov extrapolates the twin trends towards centralization of academic research and scientific specialization, to portray a world in which state control of scientific research is overseen by a vast bureaucracy, and scholars are effectively forbidden from working outside their narrow field of specialization. Working innocently under these constraints is Arnold Potterley, a professor of ancient history. Potterley, an expert on ancient Carthage, wishes to gain access to the chronoscope, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
