Risk

by Isaac Asimov

"Risk" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, first published in the May 1955 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, and reprinted in the collections The Rest of the Robots (1964) and The Complete Robot (1982).

The story is a sequel to "Little Lost Robot". It is set in the same location, but involves a different positronic robot – one of the few in Asimov's stories to have neither a serial number nor nickname.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

24 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Storm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collected in The Rest of the Robots and The Complete Robot, this sequel to Little Lost Robot can be read a here. Attempts to transport living creatures through Hyperspace result in complete loss of higher brain function, and the latest experiment is to send a ship with a positronic robot at the controls has failed. Susan Calvin persuades Gerald Black, the etherics engineer from Little Lost Robot to investigate.

This story is notable for having one of the best descriptions of Middle Management I've ever had the joy to read.
"Nuts," said Ronson. "Kallner's got no body under that gold braid. Strip him and you'll find only a conveyer belt dribbling orders downward and shooting responsibility upward."

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another startingly great story with Susan Calvin, where Asimov's most famous robopsychologist proves her ability to dissect even the tiniest human behavior trait. Marvelous.
I recommend it to everyone!

[5t4n5 Dot Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can find this in The Complete Robot .

Another interesting look at a use case for human vs robot.   Yes, even in the future with all the great advances in AI, there are some things which only a human can do.

But the water gets muddied in that is the human being asked to do it because a human life is then considered to be of cheaper value than a robot, or is there a genuine reason why only a human can do it and a robot truly couldn't?

The future is going to be filled with lots of conundrums like this, me thinks.   The future is going to be so much fun.

Next up in our robot journey is Escape! .

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

5
I think I might have read this one before, but I'm not sure.

College in the Rest of the Robots, a really great story showcasing the "I'm smarter than everyone else in the room"-ness of one of Asimov's best characters, Susan Calvin, robopsychologist.

I think both Asimov and Susan Calvin were both autistic. But Asimov shows an interesting understanding of human relationship dynamics and even politics, including the potential socio-economical ramifications and consequences of the issues in the story.

But it all hovers above the interactions, with intellectual distances. While the normies struggle with how to relate to Susan. As much of an Asimov proxy as anything.

Susan Calvin made very well be one of the preeminent autistic characters in literature.

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's another great story about Dr. Calvin and her abilities Not Just as a robot psychologist... but as a (human and general) psychologist. It's another short story puzzle box where even after the solution is known, the understanding of the solution wasn't apparent to the person Dr. Black who implemented it... It's a lot like the stack of 3 robot laws which may be rationally dissected and the resultant answer changed if logic/psychology dictates. I disagree with the crowd that the average rating of this story is anything less than a 5.

[Husam Starxin · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of my least favorite stories, and most predictable story that I've ever ready from Asimov.
Humans can't travel with the new drive, so they test with a robot instead, which fails to work because of imprecise commands, which the robots fails to perceive correctly.
I dunno, really didn't like this one.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit long. I remembered part of the ending but not the twist at the end. Good use of Susan calvin, it's always nice to see her analyze people as well as robots.

[Kareen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buena historia en la que se puede volver a saber sobre la dra. Calvin robosicóloga después de tiempo.