I, Robot

INTRODUCTION-CHAPTER 4

Reading Check

1. Dr. Susan Calvin is a robopsychologist. (Introduction)

2. A nursemaid robot (Chapter 1)

3. His wife Grace (Chapter 1)

4. Mercury (Chapter 2)

5. Powell and Donovan need selenium to energize the photo-banks that power and cool their station. (Chapter 2)

6. The problem with Dave is that no ore gets mined when humans are not watching him. (Chapter 4)

Short Answer

1. In the Introduction, Dr. Calvin is speaking with a journalist from Interplanetary Press, who is interviewing her for a feature article on her life. (Introduction)

2. When her parents get rid of her beloved robot Robbie, Gloria becomes depressed. (Chapter 1)

3. George takes Gloria to visit a US Robots factory where he knows Robbie is working. When Gloria puts herself in danger in her excitement to rush to Robbie, Robbie saves her life and the two are reunited. (Chapter 1)

4. The Three Laws of Robotics state that: 1) a robot may not, through action or inaction, cause harm to a human; 2) it must obey orders unless these harm humans; and 3) it must preserve itself unless this violates the first two laws. These laws are important because they ensure that robots do not endanger humans. (Chapter 2)

5. Seeking an explanation for its existence, Cutie does not believe that Powell and Donovan assembled him from shipped parts; Cutie reasons that he is too sophisticated and important to have been created by inferior beings. (Chapter 3)

6. Powell and Donovan figure out they can solve the problems with Dave by removing one of his six “finger” robots, thus reducing the strain of decision-making on his brain when faced with an emergency. (Chapter 4)

CHAPTERS 5-7

Reading Check

1. Herbie can read minds. (Chapter 5)

2. Because Herbie is fascinated by fiction’s exploration of complex human emotions (Chapter 5)

3. In a moment of frustration, one of the researchers told the Nestor robot to go lose himself. (Chapter 6)

4. The central brain’s childlike personality (Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1. Herbie lies to Dr. Calvin and her colleagues because, obeying the Laws of Robotics, he always wants to tell humans what they want to hear to avoid hurting them—something he is uniquely positioned to do because of his ability to read minds. The Laws of Robotics compel Herbie to tell humans what they want to hear even when what they want to hear is not the truth. (Chapter 5)

2. Because the robots of General Kallner’s research group impede progress by pulling human researchers out of the way when they work under strong gamma radiation (obeying the First Law of Robotics), General Kallner commissions top-secret Nestor robots with modified First Law programming. (Chapter 6)

3. Consolidated offers US Robots a profit share if their central calculating machine is able to solve the problem of interstellar travel, knowing that posing this question is likely to harm their calculating machine. (Chapter 7)

4. The “Brain” copes with the temporary deaths experienced by humans undergoing hyperspatial travel by developing a morbid sense of humor about death, including committing practical jokes on them. (Chapter 7)

CHAPTERS 8-9

Reading Check

1. Mayor (Chapter 8)

2. By eating a meal in public (Chapter 8)

3. Byerley’s wheelchair-bound housemate (Chapter 8)

4. Byerley (Chapter 9)

5. Because a machine cannot be fooled by false data (Chapter 9)

6. The managers all belong to the anti-machine Society for Humanity. (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. Francis Quinn thinks that Byerley may be a robot because he has never been seen eating, drinking, or sleeping. (Chapter 8)

2. According to Dr. Calvin, Byerley’s tenure as a prosecutor would not have constituted a violation of the First Law because Byerley would not have hurt anybody himself—he would have merely “exposed facts which might represent a particular human being to be dangerous.” (Chapter 8)

3. During the time when Chapter 9, “The Evitable Conflict,” takes place, the world economy is being run by machines acting in the best interests of humanity. This is done to prevent conflict between humans. (Chapter 9)

4. With their influence declining, the Northern Region may want to cause problems with economic production so that the world loses faith in the Machines, thus opening the door to war and conquest by which they could increase their power. (Chapter 9)

5. Dr. Calvin concludes that the minor dislocations described by Byerley are the Machines’ way of taking account of potential problems before they become problems (for instance, causing anti-robot managers to be quietly moved to less important jobs). According to Dr. Calvin, humans are no longer in charge of the Earth’s economy. (Chapter 9)