I, Robot
I liked Isaac Asimov's I, Robot even more than Foundation, though I'm actually less excited to read the rest of the series.
I remember reading somewhere that I, Robot and Foundation actually take place in the same universe, with one set in the near future and the other in the far (very far) future. I definitely had this impression reading the books, especially by the last chapter which seemed to be putting human civilization on track to achieve the Galactic Empire that's falling at the beginning of Foundation. But that could also just be Asimov's voice shining through when creating his version of a utopian society.
I, Robot is somewhere between a novel and a collection of short stories. Each individual story is self-contained, but they're tied together by the advancement of robotics through the years and Dr. Susan Calvin's own life as a robopsychologist. The stories are ordered chronologically, and I really enjoyed seeing the scientists work through the problems that came up with each new breakthrough.
I think I enjoyed this book more because it relates more closely to the work I actually do. While I've largely gotten out of cognitive psychology, I can still recognize some of the things Asimov got right in his predictions about robots. And some of the things he got wrong. I know many science fiction authors envisioned bipedal robots who looked more like humans. But The Jetsons actually got this one right when they put Rosie on wheels. It turns out that balance shifting is a really hard problem to solve, and it's ultimately not worth it. But there were similarities with present-day robotics in the design of a single robot controlling many others, or even the "psychic" robot who actually reminded me a lot of predictive advertising.
I definitely had a lot of fun reading this book. The stories were interesting, and Asimov's straightforward style made it a really quick read. I'm going to have to read a lot more of his work in the future.
I remember reading somewhere that I, Robot and Foundation actually take place in the same universe, with one set in the near future and the other in the far (very far) future. I definitely had this impression reading the books, especially by the last chapter which seemed to be putting human civilization on track to achieve the Galactic Empire that's falling at the beginning of Foundation. But that could also just be Asimov's voice shining through when creating his version of a utopian society.
I, Robot is somewhere between a novel and a collection of short stories. Each individual story is self-contained, but they're tied together by the advancement of robotics through the years and Dr. Susan Calvin's own life as a robopsychologist. The stories are ordered chronologically, and I really enjoyed seeing the scientists work through the problems that came up with each new breakthrough.
I think I enjoyed this book more because it relates more closely to the work I actually do. While I've largely gotten out of cognitive psychology, I can still recognize some of the things Asimov got right in his predictions about robots. And some of the things he got wrong. I know many science fiction authors envisioned bipedal robots who looked more like humans. But The Jetsons actually got this one right when they put Rosie on wheels. It turns out that balance shifting is a really hard problem to solve, and it's ultimately not worth it. But there were similarities with present-day robotics in the design of a single robot controlling many others, or even the "psychic" robot who actually reminded me a lot of predictive advertising.
I definitely had a lot of fun reading this book. The stories were interesting, and Asimov's straightforward style made it a really quick read. I'm going to have to read a lot more of his work in the future.
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