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Written by Isaac Asimov
A short story in the Robot Stories Of Isaac Asimov series
Cover Notes
A Susan Calvin story.
U.S. Robots are approached by their biggest competitor with plans for a spacejump engine, but are wary because in performing the calculations, their rival's supercomputer destroyed itself. They determine a way in which they can feed it to their own robot computer without the same thing happening, and build a ship. When they test it, the computer starts playing practical jokes on them, such as not letting anyone control the ship and feeding the crew on beans and milk. Looking through the calculations, they discover why: A hyperspace jump causes the crew of the ship to cease existing for a brief moment: a temporary violation of the First Law.
This story again relies on the differences in interpretation of the Laws of Robotics between the human members of U.S. Robots and their mechanical creations. The important factor in this robot is its personality; it allows the supercomputer to calculate the answer to the hyperspace problem, but causes it to behave immaturely.
Publication History
This story is contained in:
- Astounding magazine edited by John W Campbell - published August, 1945 by Street And Smith
- I Robot by Isaac Asimov - published December, 1950 by Gnome
Categories: Authors Isaac Asimov ! Series Robot Stories Of Isaac Asimov
