engineering

Robot series

Robot series is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Robot series rather than just read about it. In short: The Robot series is a series of 37 science fiction short stories and six novels created by American writer Isaac Asimov; the books were published between 1940 and 1995. The series is set in a world where sentient positronic robots serve a number of purposes in society.

Key takeaways

Robot series belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Robot series to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Robot series from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Robot series is a series of 37 science fiction short stories and six novels created by American writer Isaac Asimov; the books were published between 1940 and 1995. The series is set in a world where sentient positronic robots serve a number of purposes in society. To ensure their loyalty, the Three Laws of Robotics are programmed into these robots, with the intent of preventing them from ever becoming a danger to humanity. Later, Asimov merged the Robot series with his Foundation series.

Novels and stories

The series started with the story "Robbie" in the September 1940 Super Science Stories, appearing under the title "Strange Playfellow", which was not Asimov's title. Although it was originally written as a stand-alone story, the following year Asimov published a series of additional robot stories, which fit into a narrative that was then put together as the book I, Robot.

List of works in the Robot Series, in chronological order by narrative The Complete Robot (1982) (which contains all short stories published in the earlier collections I, Robot (1950) and The Rest of the Robots (1964)), Robot Dreams (1986), Robot Visions (1990), and Gold (1995) - collections of short stories and essays "The Bicentennial Man" (1976) and The Positronic Man (1992) - short story and related subsequent novel "Mother Earth" (1949) - short story in which no individual robots appear, but positronic robots are part of the background The Caves of Steel (1954) - first Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel The Naked Sun (1957) - second Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel "Mirror Image" (1972) - short story about R. Daneel Olivaw and detective Elijah Baley The Robots of Dawn (1983) - third Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel Robots and Empire (1985) - fourth Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel

Overview of short stories Most of Asimov's robot short stories, which he began to write in 1939, are set in the first age of positronic robotics and space exploration. The unique feature of Asimov's robots is the Three Laws of Robotics, hardwired in a robot's positronic brain, with which all robots in his fiction must comply, and which ensure that the robot does not turn against its creators. The stories were not initially conceived as a set, but all feature his positronic robots. They all share a theme of the interaction of humans, robots, and morality. Some of the short stories found in The Complete Robot (1982) and other anthologies appear not to be set in the same universe as the Foundation universe. "Victory Unintentional" has positronic robots obeying the Three Laws, but also a non-human civilization on Jupiter. "Let's Get Together" features humanoid robots, but from a different future, where the Cold War is still in progress, and with no mention of the Three Laws. Some characters appear in more than one of the stories. The manufacturer of the robots is often identified as the (fictional) corporation U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men. The Complete Robot contains most of Asimov's robot short stories. Missing ones were either written after its publication or formed the text connecting the stories in I, Robot. The six Asimov robot short stories not included in this book are:

"Robot Dreams" (found in the anthology of the same title) "Robot Visions" (found in the anthology of the same title) "Too Bad!" (found in Robot Visions) "Christmas Without Rodney" (found in Robot Visions) "Cal" (found in Gold) "Kid Brother" (found in Gold)

Overview of the Robot Novels The first book is I, Robot (1950), a collection of nine previously published short stories woven together as a 21st-century interview with robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin. The next four robot novels The Caves of Steel (1953), The Naked Sun (1955), The Robots of Dawn (1983), and Robots and Empire (1985) make up the Elijah Baley (sometimes "Lije Baley") series, and are mysteries starring the Terran Elijah Baley and his humaniform robot partner, R. Daneel Olivaw. They are set thousands of years after the short stories and focus on the conflicts between Spacers — descendants of human settlers from other planets — and the people from an overcrowded Earth. "Mirror Image", one of the short stories from The Complete Robot anthology, is also set in this time period, between The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn, and features both Baley and Olivaw. Another short story (found in The Early Asimov anthology), "Mother Earth", is set about a thousand years before the robot novels, when the Spacer worlds chose to become separated from Earth. The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun are both considered classics of the genre. The later novels were also well received, with The Robots of Dawn nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1984 and Robots and Empire shortlisted for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1986.

Inspiration One source of inspiration for Asimov's robots was the Zoromes, a race of mechanical men that featured in a 1931 short story called "The Jameson Satellite", by Neil R. Jones. Asimov read this story at the age of 11, and acknowledged it as a source of inspiration in Before the Golden Age (1975), an anthology of 1930's science fiction in which Asimov told the story of the science fiction he read during his formative years. In Asimov's own words:

It is from the Zoromes, beginning with their first appearance in "The Jameson Satellite," that I got my own feeling for benevolent robots who could serve man with decency, as these had served Professor Jameson. It was the Zoromes, then, who were the spiritual ancestors of my own "positronic robots," all of them, from Robbie to R. Daneel.

Other authors of robot novels set in Asimov's universe

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Robot series

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Robot series claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Robot series before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Robot series ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Robot series

In research: Robot series appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Robot series in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Robot series is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American book series, American works adapted into films, American works adapted into television shows, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Robot series outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Robot series in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Robot series means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Robot series out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Robot series in simple terms?

Why does Robot series matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Robot series?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Robot series.