Robot Visions

Robot Visions by Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov began writing his 'robot' stories, and having some published, in the late 1930's when he was still in high school. At a time when all robots were depicted as frightening and destructive he chose to humanize them, yet recognized that humans would always be at least somewhat afraid of their mechanical cousins.

Asimov writes in the last chapter of this collection of some of his finest stories that as he progressed in his writing through many decades he found himself  developing stories that were about robots and men who were becoming more and more alike. Humans who wanted long lasting robotic body parts, and robots, as in the story Bicentennial Man, who just wanted to be human enough to die.

Two award winning movies have been made from some of Asimov's robot short stories.  I Robot, starring Will Smith, and Bicentennial Man, with Robin Williams in the lead.  Both highly appreciated by Isaac Asimov himself, though the screenplays had to be greatly changed to develop a two hour movie from a couple-dozen page novella.

This book was particularly enjoyable for me as Asimov has chosen to list chronologically the stories of his robot venue most depicting their evolution over time.  This book becomes a history of the fictional U. S. Robot and Mechanical Men Company who, throughout the life of Asimov's stories, becomes the galactic monopoly for production of robots and thinking machines (computers)

It continues to fascinate me that Isaac wrote of these concepts in many cases decades before a working computer smaller than a house was created, or a robot able to do even one meaningful task was built.  In fact, it is said that Isaac Asimov coined the very word ROBOT which is now a wired, or wireless, part of almost every complex machine we use in daily life. Think SIRI in your or your friends new I-Phone.

-Ken