I, Robot
(Isaac Asimov)
?I, Robot? is a collection of short stories about robots. The various stories have delightful plots involving the interplay of Asimov?s famous ?Three laws of robotics? namely: 1) A robot may not harm a human being or through inaction allow a human being to come to harm. 2) A robot must obey all orders given to it by humans except where such orders would conflict with the First Law 3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as it does not conflict with the Second or First law. Most experts in robotics today would agree that these are excellent guidelines for the design real life robots when they are intelligent enough to act independently. All the stories involve various consequences of the three laws, which lead to unexpected events. Asimov is incomparable when it comes to consistency and true scientific plausibility of his stories. In these, you will encounter robots like Robbie the nursemaid, Cutie the prophet, Speedy the miner who spouts Gilbert and Sullivan, and many such specimens. Who could read the story ?Liar? and not feel sorry for Herbie the mind reading robot, who is condemned for no fault of his own. Hats off to Asimov who can give a depth of character to lifeless machines that many authors fail to do for humans. Some of the most colorful human characters of Asimov?s are introduced in this book as well, most notably the dramatic pair of Powell and Donovan whose witty dialogue is hilarious, and Susan Calvin, the steely robopsychologist who hates humans and loves robots. One can almost feel her contemptuous gaze while reading the stories and feel almost convinced like her that robots are a stronger, better breed. In some stories, Asimov envisages a world where robots though badly treated by humans are man?s only hope for survival and gently lead him to the best future possible. In others, the innate fear that man has of machines is hinted at and we see robots that within the limits of the three laws of robotics can still be harmful to humans or humanity as a whole. This is a real must-read of a book. If you really enjoy it you would surely like to read the following from the same author: The Complete Robot The Complete Stories (Volume 1 & 2)
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