A rather obsolete simple tasking robot named Cal is owned by Mr. Northrope, a writer, who also helped create the robot. Because of this, Cal starts wishing to become a writer itself and Mr. Northrope is willing to help up to the point where Cal actually becomes a good writer and also starts questioning the 3 laws of robotics and his purpose in the world.
LEFT TO RIGHT
Robert Forward becomes Robert Backward as he passes through a device meant to produce a change in the parity of real things.
FRUSTRATION
Herman Gelb, a programmer, discusses on how computers are programmed such that they will dismiss the possibility the war in any given simulation, thus leaving war-wishing politicians with nothing but frustration
HALLUCINATION
A 15-year old apprentice is assigned to work on a far-off planet currently exploiting the energy of a nearby neutron star. He manages to make first contact with an intelligent native alien species.
INSTABILITY
Professor Firebrenner designs a time machine, but going back in the past causes a big-bang.
ALEXANDER THE GOD
Alexander, a gifted young programmer, builds a very powerful computer which he names Bucephallus. With th help of this computer he wishes to become the richest man on earth and then pursue the quest for immortality. However, while the computer attempts to take every possible variable into account, making Alexander the ruler of earth, the only unpredictable variable, which causes everything to crash is the existance of Bucephallus itself.
THE CANYON
A letter written by the wife of a Mars based scientist talking about the exploration of a canyon on the red planet and the possible evolution of the human settlements there.
GOOD BYE EARTH
Letter adressed to Earth by a settler in one of the space communities orbiting the planet at the time. He warns about the probability that these settlements break relations with Earth and leave orbit and that this may happen to any other future settlements
No comments:
Post a Comment