How Did We Find Out About Robots

How Did We Find Out #26

by Isaac Asimov, David Wool (Illustrator)

Describes robots in fiction and mythology, traces their development from mechanical clocks to industrial robots, and looks at how they will be used in the future

62 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1984

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

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written in 1984. Robots then were still more or less Science Fiction. The Robot on the cover together with Asimov was remote controlled and could do nothing of its own, so it was not really a Robot.

So what is the book about? It is about the desire to have Robots. And to a large degree it is about himself. He talks about himself in the third person. And do not expect modesty. He invented the laws of Robotics after all (and the very expression).

What is most interesting is the final chapter where he asks the question if Robots (or computers really) would ever be able to do what he does - writing books. And since he does not know how he is doing it he thinks it could not be programmed and so was impossible. He was wrong on this point as we now know.

He also says that robots will create more jobs than they make obsolete. I am not sure if this is true anymore, when we think of AI Robots. He is also an optimist saying that computer/robot intelligence and human intelligence will work in a different way and will cooperate with each other. One day we will wonder how we ever got along without robots. Maybe. But maybe robots will wonder one day why there ever had to humans.

[Omidetunam · Rating 4 out of 5]

یکی سه قانون اصلی روبوتهاش جذاب بود که این سه قانون رو اولین بار خود آسیموف توی کتاباش آورده و باعث شده نظر منفی مردم نسبت به روبوتها که دشمن انسانهان و اون فرانکشتاین معروف که نماد یک روبوت دشمن هستش عوض بشه و تبدیل بشه به این نظر که روبوتها کمک کننده هستن به انسان.و این دیدگاه رو در ادامه با محموعه داستان من،روبوت بیشتر ارتقا میده و الهام بخش خیلی از مخترعان زمان خودش در ساختن روبوت ها میشه.همون کاری که ژول ورن به نوع دیگه ای توی کتاباش بهش پرداخته.یه جور الهام بخشی و بلند پروازی برای کشفیات جدید.مث اون جمله ی معروفی که میگفت هرکسی که یک چیزی رو اختراع میکنه اینو میدونه که صدها نفر قبل از اون ایده ی اون رو توی ذهنشون داشتن.اما تفاوت شون این بوده که ایده ش رو فقط داشتن.در ادامه آسیموف در پایان کتاب دیدگاه خودش نسبت به روبوت ها رو کامل تر میکنه و نظریه ی دو نوع هوش متفاوت رو میده:هوش روبوتی و هوش انسانی.که دو هوش مکمل همدیگه ن نه دشمن همدیگه.آسیموف و امثال آسیموف همونقدری در پیشرفت علم نقش دارن که مخترعان نقش دارن.همینطور نویسنده های داستان های علمی تخیلی.که آسیموف هم تمایز بین این نویسنده ها رو با نویسنده های داستان های تخیلی گوشزد میکنه توی کتاب.ژول ورن علمی تخیلی نویسه اما رولینگ تخیلی نویسه.تفاوت از کجا تا به کجاست

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needless to say, Asimov is particularly authoritative in this book. After all, he invented the word “robotics”, much to his surprise. He argues that to be really useful, robots should be made similarly to us humans, since they are replacing jobs humans can do but don’t want to do. I don’t think he would approve of the current tech love affair with Artificial Intelligence, AI. He would argue we humans are unique in our intelligence and should be prepared through education to make use of creative thought. Let robots do the boring stuff! Of course he doesn’t specifically mention AI since the term came many years after he wrote this book.
I thought this would be a perfect first introduction to this subject!