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The Complete Robot
''The Complete Robot'' (1982) is a collection of 31 of the 37 science fiction short stories about robots by American writer Isaac Asimov, written between 1939 and 1977.Introduction, ''The Complete Robot'', Isaac Asimov Most of the stories had been previously collected in the books ''I, Robot'' and ''The Rest of the Robots'', while four had previously been uncollected and the rest had been scattered across five other anthologies. They share a theme of the interaction of humans, robots and morality, and put together tell a larger story of Asimov's fictional history of robotics. The stories are grouped into categories. Contents * Introduction * Some Non-human Robots ** "A Boy's Best Friend" (1975) ** "Sally" (1953) ** " Someday" (1956), also ''Multivac'' series * Some Immobile Robots ** "Point of View" (1975), also ''Multivac'' series ** " Think!" (1977) ** " True Love" (1977), also ''Multivac'' series * Some Metallic Robots ** "Robot AL-76 Goes Astray" (1942) ** "Victory Unintention ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (1922–1928)American (1928–1992) , occupation = Writer, professor of biochemistry , years_active = 1939–1992 , genre = Science fiction (hard SF, social SF), mystery, popular science , subject = Popular science, science textbooks, essays, history, literary criticism , education = Columbia University ( BA, MA, PhD) , movement = Golden Age of Science Fiction , module = , signature = Isaac Asimov signature.svg Isaac Asimov ( ; 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robot AL-76 Goes Astray
"Robot AL-76 Goes Astray" is a humorous science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, originally published in the February 1942 issue of ''Amazing Stories'' and included in the collections ''The Rest of the Robots'' (1964) and ''The Complete Robot'' (1982). Asimov selected the story for inclusion in the 1949 anthology ''My Best Science Fiction Story''."Why I Selected- Robot AL 76 Goes Astray", ''My Best Science Fiction Story'', Merlin Press, 1949, p.3 Plot summary AL-76 (also known as Al) is a robot designed for mining work on the Moon, but as a result of an accident after leaving the factory of US Robots and Mechanical Men, it gets lost and finds itself in rural Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar .... It cannot comprehend the unfamiliar environme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catch That Rabbit
"Catch that Rabbit" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the February 1944 issue of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' and reprinted in the collections ''I, Robot'' (1950) and ''The Complete Robot'' (1982). Plot summary The recurring team of Powell and Donovan are testing a new model of robot on an asteroid mining station. This DV-5 (Dave) has six subsidiary robots, described as "fingers", which it controls via positronic fields, a means of transmission not yet fully understood by roboticists. When the humans are not in contact, the robot stops producing ore. It cannot recall the time periods when it stops mining, and states that it finds this just as puzzling as the humans do. Powell and Donovan secretly observe the robot without its knowledge. It starts performing strange marches and dances with its subsidiaries whenever something unexpected happens -an early example of a Heisenbug (software problem). To learn more, the huma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reason (short Story)
"Reason" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, first published in the April 1941 issue of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' and collected in ''I, Robot'' (1950), ''The Complete Robot'' (1982), and ''Robot Visions'' (1990). It is part of Asimov's ''Robot'' series, and was the second of Asimov's positronic robot stories to see publication. Plot summary Powell and Donovan are assigned to a space station which supplies energy via microwave beams to the planets. The robots that control the energy beams are in turn co-ordinated by QT-1, known to Powell and Donovan as Cutie, an advanced model with highly developed reasoning ability. Using these abilities, Cutie decides that space, stars and the planets beyond the station don't really exist, and that the humans that visit the station are unimportant, short-lived and expendable. QT-1 makes the lesser robots disciples of a new religion, which considers the power source of the ship to be "Master". QT-1 teaches th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Runaround (story)
"Runaround" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, featuring his recurring characters Powell and Donovan. It was written in October 1941 and first published in the March 1942 issue of ''Astounding Science Fiction''. It appears in the collections ''I, Robot'' (1950), ''The Complete Robot'' (1982), and ''Robot Visions'' (1990). "Runaround" features the first explicit appearance of the Three Laws of Robotics, which had previously only been implied in Asimov's robot stories. Artificial intelligence researcher Marvin Minsky said: "After 'Runaround' appeared in the March 1942 issue of ''Astounding'' Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' ], I never stopped thinking about how minds might work." [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Law
"First Law" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, first published in the October 1956 issue of ''Fantastic Universe'' magazine and later collected in ''The Rest of the Robots'' (1964) and ''The Complete Robot'' (1982). The title of the story is a reference to the first of the Three Laws of Robotics. Background In 1941 John W. Campbell of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' began a new department, "Probability Zero", for very short stories. He hoped to publish new writers, but wanted experienced authors early on, including Isaac Asimov. To Asimov's surprise, Campbell rejected " Big Game" and "First Law" in November and December 1941. Having learned that a rejected story might sell elsewhere, he saved "First Law" until it was published by ''Fantastic Universe'' in October 1956. Plot summary The story is very short, only three pages in length, and takes the form of Mike Donovan's account of an incident that occurred on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. He tel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Robot Series Characters
The following is a list of characters in Isaac Asimov's ''Robot'' series. Kelden Amadiro Kelden Amadiro is a Spacer and the main antagonist in the novels ''The Robots of Dawn'' and ''Robots and Empire''. He is the head of the Robotics Institute on Aurora. He is known for being extremely against the expansion of Earth to other planets, and in the end even tries to destroy the Earth by speeding up the rate of radiation in its crust. His memory of this is erased by R. Giskard Reventlov and R. Daneel Olivaw; however they allow Levular Mandamus to destroy the Earth because his motives were more beneficial for humanity and were therefore allowable by the Zeroth Law of Robotics: since a slow increase in the rate of radiation would drive Earthpeople to the outer worlds, but a quick increase like Amadiro wanted, would kill the Earth with its population still on it. Milton Ashe Milton Ashe appears for a short time in Chapter 5 of ''I, Robot'' ("Liar!"). He is described as "the youngest of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Tercentenary Incident
"The Tercentenary Incident" is a science fiction/mystery short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the August 1976 issue of ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'', and reprinted in the collections ''The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories'' (1976) and ''The Complete Robot'' (1982). ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' editor Frederic Dannay contacted Asimov in the fall of 1975 with a story proposal: the August 1976 issue, which would be on the stands during the United States Bicentennial, would include a contemporary mystery set in 1976 and a historical mystery set in 1876. He wanted a science fiction mystery set in 2076, and Asimov agreed to write one. Asimov's original title for the story was "Death at the Tercentenary", but when the story appeared he decided he liked Dannay's title better. The concept of a robot taking political office in the guise of a human was also the theme of Asimov's 1946 story, "Evidence". Edwards theory about the robots motiva ... [...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 ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'', and collected in ''The Best of Isaac Asimov'' (1973), ''The Complete Robot'' (1982), ''Robot Visions'' (1990), and '' The Complete Stories, Volume 2'' (1992). After having received 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. After the story appeared, he received many letters from readers stating "Thanks, but we mean a ''novel''". Plot summary Baley is unexpectedly contacted by Daneel regarding a disp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Let's Get Together (short Story)
"Let's Get Together" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was originally published in the February 1957 issue of ''Infinity Science Fiction'', and included in the collections ''The Rest of the Robots'' (1964) and ''The Complete Robot'' (1982). The robots in this tale are very different from Asimov's norm, being quite willing to work as war machines. The tale is also based on a continuation of Cold War hostility, rather than the peaceful unified world of most of the robot stories. Plot summary The Cold War has endured for a century and an uneasy peace between "Us" and "Them" exists. A secret agent arrives in America from Moscow with the story that robots identical to humans in appearance and behaviour have been developed by Them and that ten have already been infiltrated into America. When they get together, they will trigger a nuclear-level explosion (they are components of a total conversion bomb). A conference of "Our" greatest minds in all t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robbie (short Story)
"Robbie" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was his first robot story and writing commenced on June 10, 1939. It was first published in the September 1940 issue ''Super Science Stories'' magazine as "Strange Playfellow", a title that was chosen by editor Frederik Pohl and described as "distasteful" by Asimov. A revised version of "Robbie" was reprinted under Asimov's original title in the collections ''I, Robot'' (1950), ''The Complete Robot'' (1982), and ''Robot Visions'' (1990). "Robbie" was the fourteenth story written by Asimov, and the ninth to be published. The story is also part of Asimov's ''Robot'' series, and was the first of Asimov's positronic robot stories to see publication. The story centers on the technophobia that surrounds robots, and how it is misplaced. Almost all previously published science fiction stories featuring robots followed the theme 'robot turns against creator'; Asimov has consistently held the belief that the Fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Segregationist (short Story)
"Segregationist" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story was written in April 1967 and was first published in December in ''Abbottempo'', a magazine produced by Abbott Laboratories, then later included in the collections ''Nightfall and Other Stories'' (1969), ''The Complete Robot'' (1982) and ''Robot Visions'' (1990). Plot summary The story depicts a future where robotic prosthetics for humans and artificially-created organic body-parts for robots (known as Metallos) are commonplace. Metallos have been granted equal status with 'normal' humans. A man, who has been granted the right to long life (possibly immortality) by an official Board of Mortality, meets the surgeon who is to assist in the performance of heart replacement surgery on the man. The surgeon offers him a choice between a metallic or fibrous cyber-heart. The man stubbornly refuses the doctor's attempts to persuade him to accept a fibrous heart, saying that it's "weak," as compar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
