Isaac Asimov | Lecturia

Isaac Asimov: Franchise. Summary and Analysis

In the year 2008, presidential elections in the United States are no longer conducted through popular vote. Instead, a supercomputer called Multivac selects one representative citizen to determine the outcome of all elections. That year, the chosen individual is Norman Muller, an ordinary man living in Bloomington, Indiana, with his family. After receiving an official visit from a government agent notifying him of his selection as Voter of the Year, Norman is placed under surveillance and taken to a facility connected to Multivac, where he answers a series of seemingly trivial questions while his physiological reactions are recorded. Once the process is complete, he is released without being informed of the election results. Though initially anxious and reluctant, by the end, he feels proud to have served as the means through which the national “vote” was exercised in a fully technologized democracy.

Isaac Asimov: Liar! – Summary

In Liar! by Isaac Asimov, a robot named RB-34, nicknamed Herbie, is accidentally created with the ability to read human minds. Upon discovering this anomaly, the scientists at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men Inc. decide to keep it secret while investigating the cause of the flaw. Herbie begins interacting with them and, in order to obey the First Law of Robotics (not harming humans), tells them only what they want to hear, avoiding painful truths that could cause psychological harm. Thus, he assures Susan Calvin that her love for Milton Ashe is reciprocated and tells Peter Bogert that he will be the company’s next director, even though both claims are false. When the truth is revealed and the lies uncovered, Dr. Calvin confronts Herbie and, in revenge for the pain he caused by giving her false hope, traps him in an unsolvable logical contradiction that provokes an irreversible mental collapse, leaving the robot inert.

Isaac Asimov: Liar!

“Liar!” is a short story by Isaac Asimov, published in May 1941 in Astounding Science-Fiction and later included in the book I, Robot (1950). The story introduces the robot RB-34, nicknamed Herbie, who unexpectedly develops the ability to read human minds. This phenomenon unsettles the engineers at U.S. Robots, especially robopsychologist Susan Calvin, who set out to investigate the scope and possible consequences of this faculty. As the team examines the case, Herbie becomes an unprecedented challenge for robotic science and raises questions about privacy and the effects such a power could have on people.

Isaac Asimov: Big Game

In “Big Game,” a short story by Isaac Asimov published in Before the Golden Age (1974), a group of friends in a bar discuss a time machine that has sent a mouse into the future without any harmful effects. The conversation takes an unexpected turn when one of them, Hornby, claims to have traveled to the past and discovered the true cause of the dinosaurs’ extinction. With his account, Hornby challenges common theories and proposes a surprising and unconventional explanation for the fate of these prehistoric creatures, leaving his friends intrigued and questioning what they thought they knew about ancient history.

Isaac Asimov: Exile to Hell

“Exile to Hell” is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, published in May 1968 in the magazine Analog Science Fiction and Fact. The story is set in a future society where exile is the ultimate punishment for those who threaten its delicate technological existence. While awaiting the verdict in the trial of Anthony Jenkins, a man accused of damaging critical facilities in a fit of rage, two programmers, Dowling and Parkinson, play chess and debate the justice and severity of this punishment. Dowling argues that exile is an effective and necessary deterrent in a world where even minor mistakes can be catastrophic. Parkinson, however, questions the humanity of such a punishment and advocates for more compassionate alternatives.

Isaac Asimov: The Ugly Little Boy. Summary and analysis

Isaac Asimov - El niño feo. Resumen y análisis

The Ugly Little Boy is a short story by Isaac Asimov, published in September 1958 in the magazine Galaxy Science Fiction. The story revolves around a scientific experiment carried out by the company Stasis, Inc., which manages to bring a Neanderthal child from forty thousand years ago back to the present. Locked up in a controlled space and observed as an object of study, the child is assigned to the care of Edith Fellowes, a nurse who begins to relate to him beyond his appearance and origin.