I remember when I read this classic
Isaac Asimov’s collection of short stories my book was confiscated by our high school teacher (more then 20 years ago). That is to say I read it during the class under my school desk and it was found out. I was to get this book back at the end of the school year. This was a customary punishment in the Czech Republic high schools. Fortunately she brought my book back in about two weeks and said that she was really surprised how those stories were beautiful, human, and very readable. I definitely agree! It seems to be about robots, their laws, and their impact on the humanity, but it is all about our humanity. There were even several movies based on those stories. The latest one was filmed in 2004 and a lead role of a detective Spooner plays W. Smith. He investigates the mysterious murder of one of the employees of U. S. Robotics and the suspect is a robot. By the way this international word “robot” was invented by the Czech writer
K. Capek and first appeared in his futuristic novel
R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) in 1921. The movie with the name “
I, Robot” kind of mixes two or three of the stories from the book. The book that was written in 1950 is much better though. It is how robots have to deal with humans, and humans with robots. Robots are depicted very humanoid, they have human shapes, they talk and think with their
positronic brains (Star Trek borrowed this idea for its character Data) but they have to obey Asimov’s famous
three robotic laws that I couldn’t help not to cite here:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
It seems that they have to obey them but it may not be so. There are other stories that may the reader even move emotionally. “
Robbie” is one of them. All stories are good and you will feel sad when reading the last page of the book.
I remember when I read this classic Isaac Asimov’s collection of short stories my book was confiscated by our high school teacher (more then 20 years ago). That is to say I read it during the class under my school desk and it was found out. I was to get this book back at the end of the school year. This was a customary punishment in the Czech Republic high schools. Fortunately she brought my book back in about two weeks and said that she was really surprised how those stories were beautiful, human, and very readable. I definitely agree! It seems to be about robots, their laws, and their impact on the humanity, but it is all about our humanity. There were even several movies based on those stories. The latest one was filmed in 2004 and a lead role of a detective Spooner plays W. Smith. He investigates the mysterious murder of one of the employees of U. S. Robotics and the suspect is a robot. By the way this international word “robot” was invented by the Czech writer K. Capek and first appeared in his futuristic novel R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) in 1921. The movie with the name “I, Robot” kind of mixes two or three of the stories from the book. The book that was written in 1950 is much better though. It is how robots have to deal with humans, and humans with robots. Robots are depicted very humanoid, they have human shapes, they talk and think with their positronic brains (Star Trek borrowed this idea for its character Data) but they have to obey Asimov’s famous three robotic laws that I couldn’t help not to cite here: 
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