Book Reviews (I, Robot - Asimov)

If you don't know me, I read a lot. So much so, in fact, that I'll often forget I've read a book. Consequently, a majority of my posts are going to be book reviews. I think.

So to kick it all off, here's the synapsis of I, Robot by Isaac Asimov.

A journalist is doing a cover story on Susan Calvin, the first robophsycologist for the U.S. Robots & Mechanical Men Co. Through a series of interviews, Asimov plays with his "3 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 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.

Not the deepest reading I've ever done, but it's a fun read. A passage of particular note:

"Every period of human development, Susan" said the Co-ordinator, "has had its own particular type of human conflict--its own variety of problem that, apparently, could be settled only by force. And each time, frustratingly enough, force never really settled the problem. Instead, it persisted through a series of conflicts, then vanished of itself, --what's the expression--ah, yes 'not with a bang, but a whimper,' as the economic and social environment changed. And then, new problems, and a new series of wars. --Apparently endlessly cyclic."

I've been working on The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich for the last, oh, month or so, and am only half-way through it. Better get creaking.

--T$