I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (English) Paperback Book

Description: I, Robot by Isaac Asimov Nine science fiction stories explore the development of robot technology to a perfection by future civilizations. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description This classic science fiction masterwork by Isaac Asimov weaves stories about robots, humanity, and the deep questions of existence into a novel of shocking intelligence and heart. "A must-read for science-fiction buffs and literature enjoyers alike."—The Guardian I, Robot, the first and most widely read book in Asimovs Robot series, forever changed the worlds perception of artificial intelligence. Here are stories of robots gone mad, of mind-reading robots, and robots with a sense of humor. Of robot politicians, and robots who secretly run the world—all told with the dramatic blend of science fact and science fiction that has become Asimovs trademark. The Three Laws of Robotics: 1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2) A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. With these three, simple directives, Isaac Asimov formulated the laws governing robots behavior. In I, Robot, Asimov chronicles the development of the robot from its primitive origins in the present to its ultimate perfection in the not-so-distant future—a future in which humanity itself may be rendered obsolete. "Tremendously exciting and entertaining . . . Asimov dramatizes an interesting question: How can we live with machines that, generation by generation, grow more intelligent than their creators and not eventually clash with our own invention?"—The Chicago Tribune Author Biography Isaac Asimov began his Foundation Series at the age of twenty-one, not realizing that it would one day be considered a cornerstone of science fiction. During his legendary career, Asimov penned over 470 books on subjects ranging from science to Shakespeare to history, though he was most loved for his award-winning science fiction sagas, which include the Robot, Empire, and Foundation series. Named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Asimov entertained and educated readers of all ages for close to five decades. He died, at the age of seventy-two, in April 1992. Description for Reading Group Guide Isaac Asimovs Robot series and Foundation series comprise some of the greatest classics in their genre. They probe the questions of technology and destiny, war and politics that have captured readers imaginations for generations. I, Robot, the first and most widely read book in Asimovs Robot series, is a collection of nine stories that forever changed the worlds perception of artificial intelligence. Here are stories of sensitive robots, robots gone mad, mind-reading robots, prankster robots, and closeted robots that secretly dominate politics. Chronicling the robots development from primitive prototype to ultimate perfection, I, Robot blends scientific fact with science fiction in Asimovs provocative style. Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation tell the story of Hari Seldon, a brilliant visionary who synthesized history, psychology, and mathematical probability to shape a bold commandment for the future and steer humanity through a series of brutal eras. Following the collapse of a Galactic Empire, Hari gathered together the top scientists and scholars on a bleak planet at the very edge of the Galaxy in order to preserve the accumulated knowledge of mankind. He called his sanctuary the Foundation and designed it to withstand a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that would last for the next thirty thousand years. But not even Hari could have predicted the intense barbarism lurking in space, or the birth of an extraordinary creature whose mutant intelligence would destroy all that Hari held dear. The questions, discussion topics, and author biography that follow are intended to enhance your reading of these four classics written by one of the most widely recognized fiction authors of our time. I, Robot Isaac Asimov 0-553-29438-5 (paperback) 0-553-80370-0 (hardcover) Foundation Isaac Asimov 0-553-29335-4 (paperback) 0-553-80371-9 (hardcover) Foundation and Empire Isaac Asimov 0-553-29337-0 (paperback) 0-553-80372-7 (hardcover) Second Foundation Isaac Asimov 0-553-29336-2 (paperback) 0-553-80373-5 (hardcover) Discussion Question for Reading Group Guide 1. Do Asimovs now-famous Three Laws of Robotics mirror humanitys ethics code in any way? Whose orders are human beings required to obey? Do our definitions of "harm" ever lead to the same confounding dilemmas experienced in I, Robot ? 2. Why was Glorias mother unable to accept Robbie as an excellent nursemaid? Was Robbie premonitory on Asimovs part--a prediction that children in the twenty-first century might form intense emotional attachments to electronics? 3. Cutie (QT) questions his origins and finds it impossible to believe that a human created him. In what ways did Powell and Donovan reinforce this belief? 4. Does the case of Stephen Byerley indicate that robots might make better politicians? Would this only hold true if, as the novel envisions, nations dissolve into massive world regions? 5. What is the ultimate commodity produced by U.S. Robot & Mechanical Men, Inc. Does our global workforce follow this model in any way? Were humor and compassion inevitable traits in the robots? Do these traits interfere with productivity in the world of I, Robot ? 6. In the books closing lines, Dr. Susan Calvin tells the narrator, "You will see what comes next," as robots stand between mankind and destruction. How did her career lead up to such a precarious conclusion? 7. I, Robot has been turned into a major motion picture starring Will Smith. How does the movie compare with your book-reading experience? What do you think of the adjustments made and liberties taken when converting this collection of stories to one seamless film adaptation? 8. Foundation opens with the perspective of Gaal Dornick, "a country boy who had never seen Trantor before." What is the effect of opening the novel with Gaals observations? Why did Hari Seldon extend such an invitation to Gaal? 9. In the trial portrayed in chapter 6, the Commissions Advocate repeatedly rejects Haris deductions regarding the future. What has made Hari a target for exile? Why are his projections--supported by seemingly irrefutable logic and mathematics--so easily dismissed by his accusers? 10. Part 3 of Foundation begins with an entry from the Encyclopedia Galactica that reads, "Undoubtedly the most interesting aspect of the history of the four Kingdoms involves the strange society forced temporarily upon it during the administration of Salvor Hardin." In what ways does Hardin distinguish himself from the other rulers described in the novel? What conditions fostered his rise to power? 11. The Foundation is intended in some ways as a kind of religious center. What are its doctrines? Can a religion of science fail? 12. Discuss the novels references to energy--in this case, nuclear power--in relation to political and economic supremacy. What other forces drive the novels hierarchies of dominance? How does the role of the Traders evolve in the novels closing chapters? 13. What were the root causes of the Foundations fall? Could its demise have been avoided, even after war had begun? 14. As Lord of the Universe, is Cleon II na Excerpt from Book ROBBIE "Ninety-eight--ninety-nine--one hundred." Gloria withdrew her chubby little forearm from before her eyes and stood for a moment, wrinkling her nose and blinking in the sunlight. Then, trying to watch in all directions at once, she withdrew a few cautious steps from the tree against which she had been leaning. She craned her neck to investigate the possibilities of a clump of bushes to the right and then withdrew farther to obtain a better angle for viewing its dark recesses. The quiet was profound except for the incessant buzzing of insects and the occasional chirrup of some hardy bird, braving the midday sun. Gloria pouted, "I bet he went inside the house, and Ive told him a million times that thats not fair." With tiny lips pressed together tightly and a severe frown crinkling her forehead, she moved determinedly toward the two-story building up past the driveway. Too late she heard the rustling sound behind her, followed by the distinctive and rhythmic clump-clump of Robbies metal feet. She whirled about to see her triumphing companion emerge from hiding and make for the home-tree at full speed. Gloria shrieked in dismay. "Wait, Robbie! That wasnt fair, Robbie! You promised you wouldnt run until I found you." Her little feet could make no headway at all against Robbies giant strides. Then, within ten feet of the goal, Robbies pace slowed suddenly to the merest of crawls, and Gloria, with one final burst of wild speed, dashed pantingly past him to touch the welcome bark of home-tree first. Gleefully, she turned on the faithful Robbie, and with the basest of ingratitude, rewarded him for his sacrifice by taunting him cruelly for a lack of running ability. "Robbie cant run," she shouted at the top of her eight-year-old voice. "I can beat him any day. I can beat him any day." She chanted the words in a shrill rhythm. Robbie didnt answer, of course--not in words. He pantomimed running instead, inching away until Gloria found herself running after him as he dodged her narrowly, forcing her to veer in helpless circles, little arms outstretched and fanning at the air. "Robbie," she squealed, "stand still!"--And the laughter was forced out of her in breathless jerks. --Until he turned suddenly and caught her up, whirling her round, so that for her the world fell away for a moment with a blue emptiness beneath, and green trees stretching hungrily downward toward the void. Then she was down in the grass again, leaning against Robbies leg and still holding a hard, metal finger. After a while, her breath returned. She pushed uselessly at her disheveled hair in vague imitation of one of her mothers gestures and twisted to see if her dress were torn. She slapped her hand against Robbies torso, "Bad boy! Ill spank you!" And Robbie cowered, holding his hands over his face so that she had to add, "No, I wont, Robbie. I wont spank you. But anyway, its my turn to hide now because youve got longer legs and you promised not to run till I found you." Robbie nodded his head--a small parallelepiped with rounded edges and corners attached to a similar but much larger parallelepiped that served as torso by means of a short, flexible stalk--and obediently faced the tree. A thin, metal film descended over his glowing eyes and from within his body came a steady, resonant ticking. "Dont peek now--and dont skip any numbers," warned Gloria, and scurried for cover. With unvarying regularity, seconds were ticked off, and at the hundredth, up went the eyelids, and the glowing red of Robbies eyes swept the prospect. They rested for a moment on a bit of colorful gingham that protruded from behind a boulder. He advanced a few steps and convinced himself that it was Gloria who squatted behind it. Slowly, remaining always between Gloria and home-tree, he advanced on the hiding place, and when Gloria was plainly in sight and could no longer even theorize to herself that she was not seen, he extended one arm toward her, slapping the other against his leg so that it rang again. Gloria emerged sulkily. "You peeked!" she exclaimed, with gross unfairness. "Besides Im tired of playing hide-and-seek. I want a ride." But Robbie was hurt at the unjust accusation, so he seated himself carefully and shook his head ponderously from side to side. Gloria changed her tone to one of gentle coaxing immediately, "Come on, Robbie. I didnt mean it about the peeking. Give me a ride." Robbie was not to be won over so easily, though. He gazed stubbornly at the sky, and shook his head even more emphatically. "Please, Robbie, please give me a ride." She encircled his neck with rosy arms and hugged tightly. Then, changing moods in a moment, she moved away. "If you dont, Im going to cry," and her face twisted appallingly in preparation. Hard-hearted Robbie paid scant attention to this dreadful possibility, and shook his head a third time. Gloria found it necessary to play her trump card. "If you dont," she exclaimed warmly, "I wont tell you any more stories, thats all. Not one--" Robbie gave in immediately and unconditionally before this ultimatum, nodding his head vigorously until the metal of his neck hummed. Carefully, he raised the little girl and placed her on his broad, flat shoulders. Glorias threatened tears vanished immediately and she crowed with delight. Robbies metal skin, kept at a constant temperature of seventy by the high resistance coils within, felt nice and comfortable, while the beautifully loud sound her heels made as they bumped rhythmically against his chest was enchanting. "Youre an air-coaster, Robbie, youre a big, silver air-coaster. Hold out your arms straight. --You got to, Robbie, if youre going to be an air-coaster." The logic was irrefutable. Robbies arms were wings catching the air currents and he was a silver coaster. Gloria twisted the robots head and leaned to the right. He banked sharply. Gloria equipped the coaster with a motor that went "Br-r-r" and then with weapons that went "Powie" and "Sh-sh-shshsh." Pirates were giving chase and the ships blasters were coming into play. The pirates dropped in a steady rain. "Got another one. --Two more," she cried. Then "Faster, men," Gloria said pompously, "were running out of ammunition." She aimed over her shoulder with undaunted courage and Robbie was a blunt-nosed spaceship zooming through the void at maximum acceleration. Clear across the field he sped, to the patch of tall grass on the other side, where he stopped with a suddenness that evoked a shriek from his flushed rider, and then tumbled her onto the soft, green carpet. Gloria gasped and panted, and gave voice to intermittent whispered exclamations of "That was nice!" Robbie waited until she had caught her breath and then pulled gently at a lock of hair. "You want something?" said Gloria, eyes wide in an apparently artless complexity that fooled her huge "nursemaid" not at all. He pulled the curl harder. "Oh, I know. You want a story." Robbie nodded rapidly. "Which one?" Robbie made a semi-circle in the air with one finger. The little girl protested, "Again? Ive told you Cinderella a million times. Arent you tired of it? --Its for babies." Another semi-circle. "Oh, well," Gloria composed herself, ran over the details of the tale in her mind (together with her own elaborations, of which she had several) and began: "Are you ready? Well--once upon a time there was a beautiful little girl whose name was Ella. And she had a terribly cruel step-mother and two very ugly and very cruel step-sisters and--" Gloria was reaching the very climax of the tale--midnight was striking and everything was changing back to the shabby originals lickety-split, while Robbie listened tensely with burning eyes--when the interruption came. "Gloria!" It was the high-pitched sound of a woman who has been calling not once, but several times; and had the nervous tone of one in whom anxiety was beginning to overcome impatience. "Mammas calling me," said Gloria, not quite happily. "Youd better carry me back to the house, Robbie." Robbie obeyed with alacrity for somehow there was that in him which judged it best to obey Mrs. Weston, without as much as a scrap of hesitation. Glorias father was rarely home in the daytime except on Sunday--today, for instance--and when he was, he proved a genial and understanding person. Glorias mother, however, was a source of uneasiness to Robbie and there was always the impulse to sneak away from her sight. Mrs. Weston caught sight of them the minute they rose above the masking tufts of long grass and retired inside the house to wait. "Ive shouted myself hoarse, Gloria," she said, severely. "Where were you?" "I was with Robbie," quavered Gloria. "I was telling him Cinderella, and I forgot it was dinner-time." "Well, its a pity Robbie forgot, too." Then, as if that reminded her of the robots presence, she whirled upon him. "You may go, Robbie. She doesnt need you now." Then, brutally, "And dont come back till I call you." Robbie turned to go, but hesitated as Gloria cried out in his defense, "Wait, Mamma, you got to let him stay. I didnt finish Cinderella for him. I said I would tell him Cinderella and Im not fi Description for Library A collection about Dr. Susan Calvin & the product she produces at her factory, robots. Details ISBN0553294385 Author Isaac Asimov Short Title I ROBOT M/TV Language English ISBN-10 0553294385 ISBN-13 9780553294385 Media Book DEWEY FIC Year 1991 Audience Age 12-18 Residence US Birth 1920 Death 1992 Country of Publication United States DOI 10.1604/9780553294385 Series Number 1 UK Release Date 1991-11-01 Place of Publication NY AU Release Date 1991-11-01 NZ Release Date 1991-11-01 US Release Date 1991-11-01 Pages 304 Publisher Random House USA Inc Series The Robot Series Format Paperback Publication Date 1991-11-01 Imprint Bantam Books Inc Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:145310251;

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