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Robots is a 1988 Interactive movie directed by Doug Smith and Kim Takal. Its screenplay, by Peter Olatka, is based on Isaac Asimov's Robot series. It stars Stephen Rowe as Elijah Baley, Brent Barrett as R. Daneel Olivaw, and John Henry Cox as Han Fastolfe.
Elijah Baley is issued an assignment by Police Commissioner Julius Enderby to induct a Spacer Robot onto the force, as requested by Dr. Han Fastolfe, the galaxy's leading Spacer roboticist. Baley meets R. Daneel Olivaw at Spacertown, where they discover that Han Fastolfe becomes the victim of a failed murder attempt, his life saved thanks to his robot assistant R. Giskard. Kelden Amadiro, seemingly enraged by the attack on Fastolfe, quickly blames Earth. Using the riots against Spacers and Robots as an excuse, Amadiro issues an ultimatum to Enderby: Find Fastolfe's assailant in 24 hours or Spacer Robots will enter the City to put down the riots.
Throughout the video, Elijah Baley addresses Data Central (the viewers) where he "submits" evidence in the form of a clue card. The viewers are prompted to draw one of the cards with one side facing up while taking note of everything that happens in the story. Along the way, he interviews Sophia Quintana- Earth's leading roboticist, rivaled (and romantically rejected) by Fastolfe himself-, Vasilia Fastolfe- Han's estranged daughter, who bears a grudge towards Han for stealing credit for her works, and harbors an overt distaste for Earthmen (Baley most notably)-, and finally Amadiro, who is a political rival of Fastolfe, the former of whom is known for his anti-Earth views.
Daneel objects since Spacers have no crime and Vasilia is Han's daughter, but Baley argues that they've become unstable enough by the stress of being on Earth. Daneel then adds to the list Julius Enderby who, being a medievalist and under pressure to control the riots, also had clear motive. Elijah agrees, but also adds Borgraf, Jane and Sammy, which Daneel objects because of the First Law of Robotics: "A Robot may not injure a human or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm."
Upon returning to Spacertown, Baley reveals that the Han Fastolfe in the lab is actually a humanoid robot sent by the real Han Fastolfe (who is still on Aurora) in anticipation of his ongoing political struggles with Amadiro and Vasilia, and out of an overriding fear of Earth germs (which was at odds with Robot Fastolfe's more hospitable behavior). At the last moment of Amadiro's ultimatum, Daneel comes through with the last bit of evidence. Baley accepts it and shakes Daneel's hand, ending his hostility with the humanoid robot.
The video ends on a cliffhanger, with Baley prompting the viewers to use the clues they've gathered from the cards and the video to identify the suspect, spell out their motive and describe the opportunity they had to commit the crime.
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The Caves of Steel is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov. It is a detective story and illustrates an idea Asimov advocated, that science fiction can be applied to any literary genre, rather than just being a limited genre in itself.
Prelude to Foundation is a novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1988. It is one of two prequels to the Foundation series. For the first time, Asimov chronicles the fictional life of Hari Seldon, the man who invented psychohistory and the intellectual hero of the series. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award.
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The Robot series is a series of 37 science fiction short stories and six novels by American writer Isaac Asimov, featuring positronic robots.
The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of rules devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov. The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround", although they had been foreshadowed in some earlier stories. The Three Laws, quoted from the "Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.", are:
Pebble in the Sky is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1950. This work is his first novel — parts of the Foundation series had appeared from 1942 onwards in magazines, but Foundation was not published in book form until 1951. The original Foundation books are also a string of linked episodes, whereas this is a complete story involving a single group of characters.
A positronic brain is a fictional technological device, originally conceived by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It functions as a central processing unit (CPU) for robots, and, in some unspecified way, provides them with a form of consciousness recognizable to humans. When Asimov wrote his first robot stories in 1939 and 1940, the positron was a newly discovered particle, and so the buzz word "positronic" added a scientific connotation to the concept. Asimov's 1942 short story "Runaround" elaborates his fictional Three Laws of Robotics, which are ingrained in the positronic brains of nearly all of his robots.
R. Daneel Olivaw is a fictional robot created by Isaac Asimov. The "R" initial in his name stands for "Robot," a naming convention in Asimov's future society during Earth's early period of space colonization. Daneel is introduced in The Caves of Steel, a serialized story published in Galaxy magazine vol. 7 #1-3 from October to December 1953. The full story was published by Doubleday as a hardcover book in 1954.
Robots and Empire is a science fiction novel by the American author Isaac Asimov, published by Doubleday Books in 1985. It is part of Asimov's Robot series, which consists of many short stories and five novels.
"The Bicentennial Man" is a novelette in the Robot series by American writer Isaac Asimov. According to the foreword in Robot Visions, Asimov was approached to write a story, along with a number of other authors who would do the same, for a science fiction collection to be published in honor of the United States Bicentennial. However, the arrangement fell through, leaving Asimov's the only story actually completed for the project. Asimov sold the story to Judy-Lynn del Rey, who made some small changes to the text. Asimov restored the original text when the story was collected in The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories (1976).
The Naked Sun is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, the second in his Robot series. Like its predecessor, The Caves of Steel, this is a whodunit story. It was first published in book form in 1957 after being serialized in Astounding Science Fiction between October and December 1956.
The Robots of Dawn is a "whodunit" science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, first published in 1983. It is the third novel in Asimov's Robot series.
Elijah "Lije" Baley is a fictional character in Isaac Asimov's Robot series. He is the main character of the novels The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn, and of the short story "Mirror Image." He is seen in flashbacks several times and talked about frequently in Robots and Empire, which is set roughly 160 years after his death. He is further mentioned in passing in "Foundation and Earth" as a "Culture Hero". Besides Asimov's works he appears in the Foundation's Friends story "Strip-Runner" by Pamela Sargent, and "Isaac Asimov's 'The Caves of Steel'" poem by Randall Garrett.
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Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots. Robotics is related to the sciences of electronics, engineering, mechanics, and software. The word "robot" was introduced to the public by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R., published in 1920. The term "robotics" was coined by Isaac Asimov in his 1941 science fiction short-story "Liar!"
The history of robots has its origins in the ancient world. During the industrial revolution, humans developed the structural engineering capability to control electricity so that machines could be powered with small motors. In the early 20th century, the notion of a humanoid machine was developed.
The Foundation universe is the future history of humanity's colonisation of the galaxy, spanning nearly 25,000 years, created through the gradual fusion of the Robot, Galactic Empire, Foundation book series written by American author Isaac Asimov.