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IsaacAsimov'sRobotSeries

IsaacAsimov'sRobotSeriesisaseriesofbooksbyIsaacAsimov,bothcollectionsofshortstoriesandnovels.

Shortstories

MostofAsimov'srobotshortstoriesaresetinthefirstageofpositronicroboticsandspaceexploration.TheuniquefeatureofAsimov'srobotsaretheThreeLawsofRobotics,hardwiredintherobots'positronicbrains,whichallrobotsinhisfictionmustobey,andwhichensurethatrobotsdon'tturnagainsttheircreators.

Thestorieswerenotinitiallyconceivedasaset,butratherallfeaturehispositronicrobots—indeed,therearesomeinconsistenciesamongthem,especiallybetweentheshortstoriesandthenovels.Theyall,however,shareathemeoftheinteractionofhumans,robots,andmorality.SomeoftheshortstoriesfoundinTheCompleteRobotandotheranthologiesappearnottobesetinthesameuniverseastheFoundationUniverse."VictoryUnintentional"haspositronicrobotsobeyingtheThreeLaws,butalsoanon-humancivilizationonJupiter."Let'sGetTogether"featureshumanoidrobots,butfromadifferentfuture,andwithnothingtopreventrobotsintentionallykillinghumans.

Robotnovels

ThefinalfourrobotnovelscomprisetheElijahBaley(sometimes"LijeBaley")series,andaremysteriesstarringtheTerranElijahBaleyandhishumaniformrobotpartner,R.DaneelOlivaw.Theyaresetapproximately2,000yearsaftertheshortstories,andfocusontheconflictsbetweenSpacers—descendantsofhumansettlersfromotherplanets,andthepeoplefromanovercrowdedEarth.OneoftheshortstoriesfromTheCompleteRobot"MirrorImage"anthologyisalsosetinthistimeperiod(betweenTheNakedSunandTheRobotsofDawn),andfeaturesbothBaleyandOlivaw.Anothershortstory(foundinTheEarlyAsimovanthology),"MotherEarth",issetaboutathousandyearsbeforetherobotnovels,whentheSpacerworldschosetobecomeseparatedfromEarth.

Inspiration

OnesourceofinspirationforAsimov'srobotswastheZoromes,araceofmechanicalmenthatfeaturedina1931shortstorycalled"TheJamesonSatellite",byNeilR.Jones.Asimovreadthisstoryattheageof11,andacknowledgeditasasourceofinspirationinBeforetheGoldenAge(1975),ananthologyof1930ssciencefictioninwhichAsimovtoldthestoryofthesciencefictionhereadduringhisformativeyears.InAsimov'sownwords:

ItisfromtheZoromes,beginningwiththeirfirstappearancein"TheJamesonSatellite,"thatIgotmyownfeelingforbenevolentrobotswhocouldservemanwithdecency,asthesehadservedProfessorJameson.ItwastheZoromes,then,whowerethespiritualancestorsofmyown"positronicrobots,"allofthem,fromRobbietoR.Daneel.

Mergingwithotherseries

AsimovlaterintegratedtheRobotSeriesintohisall-engulfingFoundationseries,makingR.DaneelOlivawappearagaintwentythousandyearslaterintheageoftheGalacticEmpire,insequelsandprequelstotheoriginalFoundationtrilogy;andinthefinalbookoftheRobotsseries—RobotsandEmpire—welearnhowtheworldsthatlaterformedtheEmpireweresettled,andhowEarthbecameradioactive(whichwasfirstmentionedinPebbleintheSky).

Awkwardly,TheStars,LikeDuststatesexplicitlythattheEarthisradioactivebecauseofanuclearwar.Asimovlaterexplainedthatthein-universereasonforthisperceptionwasthatitwasformulatedbyEarthmenmanycenturiesaftertheevent,andwhichhadbecomedistorted,duetothelossofmuchoftheirplanetaryhistory.ThisworkisgenerallyregardedaspartoftheGalacticEmpireseries,butdoesnotdirectlymentioneitherTrantorortheSpacerworlds.

Otherauthors

The1989anthologyFoundation'sFriendsincludedthepositronicrobotstories"Balance"byMikeResnick,"Blot"byHalClement,"PAPPI"bySheilaFinch,"Plato'sCave"byPoulAnderson,"TheFourthLawofRobotics"byHarryHarrisonand"CarhuntersoftheConcretePrairie"byRobertSheckley.NotallofthesestoriesareentirelyconsistentwiththeAsimovstories.Theanthologyalsoincluded"Strip-Runner"byPamelaSargent,setintheeraoftheElijahBaleynovels.

Shortlybeforehisdeathin1992,Asimovapprovedanoutlineforthreenovels(Caliban,Inferno,Utopia)byRogerMacBrideAllen,setbetweenRobotsandEmpireandtheEmpireseries,tellingthestoryoftheterraformingoftheSpacerworldInferno,andabouttherobotrevolutionstartedbycreatinga"NoLaw"Robot,andthenNewLawRobots.

Thereisalsoanothersetofnovelsbyvariousauthors(IsaacAsimov'sRobotsseries/RobotCityseries/RobotsandAliensseries/RobotsinTimeseries),looselyconnectedtotheRobotsSeries,buttheycontainmanyinconsistencieswithAsimov'sbooks,andarenotgenerallyconsideredcanon.

Asimov'srobotsonscreen

In1963,therewasanOuterLimitsepisodetitled"I,Robot."AlthoughAdamwasnotoneoftheAsimovrobots,heseemedtoexhibittheFirstLawinhisactions.

ThefirstfilmversionofAsimov'srobotstorieswerefiveepisodesofBritishtelevisionseriesOutoftheUnknown,basedonrobotshortstoriesandnovels.Theywere:"TheCavesofSteel"(1964),"SatisfactionGuaranteed"(1966),"TheProphet"(1967),basedonshortstory"Reason","Liar!"(1969),and"TheNakedSun"(1969).

In1999,shortstoryandnovel"TheBicentennialMan"wasmadeintoamoviestarringRobinWilliams.

Inthelate1970s,HarlanEllisonproducedascreenplaybasedonAsimov'sbookI,Robot.Thefilmwasnevermade,butthescriptappearedinbookformunderthetitleI,Robot:TheIllustratedScreenplay(1994).

AmotionpictureadaptationofI,RobotstarringWillSmithwasreleasedinJuly2004byTwentiethCenturyFox.

Culturalimpact

TheThreeLawsareoftenusedinsciencefictionnovelswrittenbyotherauthors,buttraditiondictatesthatonlyDr.AsimovwouldeverquotetheLawsexplicitly.

ThefictionalcharactersLieutenantCommanderData,hiseldestbrotherB-4,andhisevilbrotherLorefromStarTrek:TheNextGenerationareandroidsequippedwithpositronicbrains,inhomagetoAsimov'srobots.DatafollowsabehavioralcodemuchliketheThreeLawsofRobotics(oneepisodereferencesthem),andhiskindonot.OthercharactersspeakofData's"ethicalandmoralsubroutines",implyingthattheyarenotalwaysparamountinhisdecision-makingprocess,butinsteadareactivatedduringtimesofunusualstress.ThismayexplainwhyDatahasavoidedtheproblemof"mentalfreeze-out"whichplaguesAsimov'srobots.Datahasbeenshownplacingthegoodoflargegroupsoverthatofindividuals,aversionoftheZerothLaw.

Althoughthesestoriesarewell-known,itishardlyeverrecognizedthatAsimov'srobotsarenothingatalllikecomputers,asthemainseriesofthempredatedanyofthemajorcomputerprojects.Themainstumblingblockisthatwritingaprogramthatwouldbeabletodeterminewhetheranyofthethreelawswouldbeviolatedisfarmoredifficultthanwritingoneformachinevision,orspeechrecognition,orevencomprehendingtheactivitiesandmotivationsinthehumanworld,whichisonlyattemptedbydeterminingavastlistofrulestocheck.Also,thestories'robotsnevergetprogrammingviruses,orrequireupdates.Theymay,however,havenewfeaturesinstalled(likeR.Giskard,aswearetoldinRobotsandEmpire).Mostimportantly,theyonlystopfunctioningduetoaclashbetweenthe(hypothetical)subroutineswhichdeterminewhetheroneofthelawshasbeenviolated,neveracrashofasubroutineitself:theyareneveratalossastowhatisgoingon,onlywhattodoaboutit.

Ratherthanprecursorsofrobotsthatmaybemadeasderivativesofcomputers,Asimov'srobotsareactuallywhatinphilosophyarecalledhomunculi,thoughtexperimentsonwhatsortofbeingwouldresultfromconsideringahumanbeingandremovingoneormoreofthesecharacteristics.Thebestexampleofthisinrecentphilosophyisconsideringwhethertherecouldbeacreaturethatspeaksandactslikeahumanbeingbutlacksself-consciousness,andwhat'smore,consideringhowsomeoneelsewouldknowfromobservationwhethersuchabeinglacksthiscapacity

Shortstorycollections

I,Robot(1950),thefirstcollectionofAsimov'srobotstories,whichwereallincludedinTheCompleteRobot,butitcontainsaframestory,nolongerinTheCompleteRobot.

TheRestoftheRobots(1964),collectionofAsimov'srobotstorieswrittenbefore1964thatwerenotincludedinI,Robot,allofwhichwerelateralsoincludedinTheCompleteRobot.

TheCompleteRobot(1982),CollectionofAsimovRobotstorieswrittenbetween1940and1976.NotethatnotallofthemarepartoftheFoundationuniverse.TheonlyrobotstoriesnotinTheComplete