I, Robot

Isaac Asimov

"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 the orders given 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."

Isaac Asimov invented these laws and wrote a group of robot short stories based on them during the 1940's. This book is the compilation of those stories, with added filler to help tie them together. While these Laws of Robotics were written for fiction, they are well acknowledged today.

I have read these short stories a number of times. Yet I always enjoy re-reading them. Asimov basically created the robot we see in most fiction today. (Hey, Star Trek fans, his robots had positronic brains long before Data did.)

All these stories except the last one stand on their own. I personally think the last one was written when these stories were put together as a novel (the copyright dates match for that guess). They are enjoyable and well thought out. Whether the robot is a nursemaid or mining on Mercury, the robot follows itself and the Laws of Robotics logically throughout the stories.

After you've read this book, visit . They have an abridged version of this book that you can read in a minute or less. Great humor!

I, Robot
"Robot Dreams" Future on Ice
The Caves of Steel
The Naked Sun
Robots of Dawn
Robots and Empire