An incomplete piece I wrote a while ago. I've been too busy - read lazy to finish it. This'll have to do, I guess.
To the observant mind, the relationship of science fiction with original scientific discovery is very much a symbiotic one. This much is very clear from how the development of the genre coincides with periods of the 20th century filled with ground-breaking scientific discovery. As scientists were expanding their perception of the cosmos, writers were awakening humanity's imagination to the possibilies that these discoveries now opened up.
None more so than in the 1940s, often referred to as the Golden Age of Science Fiction. It was in this period that the genre rose from the literary obscurity of "pulps" and started gaining attention from mainstream literary circles. Although, it must be acknowledged that most of the Golden Era stories were published in pulp magazines, it was just the nature of the stories that had changed. This change is mostly attributed to one man: John W. Campbell, editor of many science fiction magazines including the famous Astounding Science Fiction.
What made Campbell different was that he was truly a man of science. He'd studied physics at MIT and had been an accomplished writer himself. He wanted stories that were clear in their prose and attempted to explain the science at their core. He wanted to break the mould, and invited new ideas and better writing for Astounding. He wanted authors to contemporary scientific theories and shape worlds where their applications had been realised. It was in this search that the avant-garde editor found some of the most brilliant writers of the era including three who changed the face of the genre forever: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein; "The Big Three".
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Robots had existed in literature as far back as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. These were mostly tales that contained indictment of the human obsession with creating life and showed disastrous consequences of such endeavours. The robotic creatures in these cautionary tales had limited intelligence and were mostly crude, destructive beings that only embodied the darker, baneful impulses of its creators.
The word "Robot" was first used in 1912, in the title of Slavic play Rossum's Universal Robots by Karel Čapek. The word literally means worker in Slavic, and that's how most writers of the early 20th century approached them. In the science fiction pulp magazines robots were humanoid machines capable of inhuman strength and precision, but incapable of performing tasks beyond physical labour. These were mostly electrical appliances that conveniently malfunctioned to provide the stories' adventuring protagonists with a destructive nemesis.
Isaac Asimov grew up reading these stories and wondered if robots could be more than just a symbolic representation of the mechanical, efficient and soulless political uprising of Communism in Europe. His stories in Astounding magazine showed robots that were highly intelligent and capable of solving complicated problems. Over the years through his stories as Asimov advanced the possibilities of robotics he also developed a human-robot relationship. In his "I, Robot" series of stories he showed robots to be not only capable of intelligent thought but also empathy and emotional attachment. But Asimov's continued quest to make robot's more liberated raised the ugly question that had plagued science fiction stories (including Capek's pioneering play)over the years: What if robots turn on their creators?
For Asimov this question led to even deeper philosophical dilemmas of free-will and the limitations of artificial intelligence in perceiving deeper moral issues. Asimov wanted a moral code that would lessen the threat to humanity that a self-conscious machine seemingly posed. With the help of his mentor John Campbell, Asimov developed his famous Three Laws of Robotics. These laws were hard-wired into every robot's "positronic brain". The laws in their earliest form were:
Limited though they may be, Asimov's Laws of Robotics and his efforts in redefining the role of robots in the worlds of science fiction were starting to bear fruit as more and more authors started using robots as more than just plot devices of destruction. He himself took the socially acceptable, intelligent and self-aware robot companion to a whole new level in his 1976 novelette, The Bicentennial Man. In this a house-hold robot named Andrew develops a deep friendship with the young daughter of his master and through his interaction with her develops creative abilities beyond his original programming. In The Bicentennial Man, Asimov openly explores issues of slavery, prejudice, intellectual freedom and mortality. Above all, Asimov questions what it means to be human. Can a robot that has reached a certain level of intelligence and emotional maturity be declared a human? A far cry from the mechanical version of the Golem of Jewish lore, that robots had been for many years.
Today, we have artificial intelligence and robots running every aspect of the technology world. In an era where computers were nothing more than basic calculators, Asimov envisioned today's computers that are helping surgeons diagnose and perform complicated surgical procedures. In 2010, a Slovenian team of surgeons successfully performed heart surgery using the world's first "true robotic surgeon". The robot was more than just a precise instrument, mirroring the hands of the user. Guided by general instructions from the human interface the surgical robot performed the surgery on its own.
We may still be half a century away from Andrew, the Bicentennial Man, but we have primitive robots and AI systems in the gearbox management systems of our cars, in the assisted-landing systems of our aircraft and in the assembly lines of our manufacturing plants.
The world took a massive leap from theory to practical advancements in technology in the past 35 years or so. There is no doubt that in many ways the world is shaping into one once imagined by Asimov and his peers. Many even go as far as to suggest that the greats of Science Fiction helped steer the direction of technological advancements by inspiring generations of scientists with their stories. Others consider them to be prophets who looked at the possibilities scientific discoveries opened up and invisioned the present direction of humanity. Eitherway, Asimov and others of his extraordinary ilk deserve more credit than is thrown their way by the champions of 'literary merit'.
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| image by the wonderful @pathipen |
To the observant mind, the relationship of science fiction with original scientific discovery is very much a symbiotic one. This much is very clear from how the development of the genre coincides with periods of the 20th century filled with ground-breaking scientific discovery. As scientists were expanding their perception of the cosmos, writers were awakening humanity's imagination to the possibilies that these discoveries now opened up.
None more so than in the 1940s, often referred to as the Golden Age of Science Fiction. It was in this period that the genre rose from the literary obscurity of "pulps" and started gaining attention from mainstream literary circles. Although, it must be acknowledged that most of the Golden Era stories were published in pulp magazines, it was just the nature of the stories that had changed. This change is mostly attributed to one man: John W. Campbell, editor of many science fiction magazines including the famous Astounding Science Fiction.
What made Campbell different was that he was truly a man of science. He'd studied physics at MIT and had been an accomplished writer himself. He wanted stories that were clear in their prose and attempted to explain the science at their core. He wanted to break the mould, and invited new ideas and better writing for Astounding. He wanted authors to contemporary scientific theories and shape worlds where their applications had been realised. It was in this search that the avant-garde editor found some of the most brilliant writers of the era including three who changed the face of the genre forever: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein; "The Big Three".
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robots had existed in literature as far back as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. These were mostly tales that contained indictment of the human obsession with creating life and showed disastrous consequences of such endeavours. The robotic creatures in these cautionary tales had limited intelligence and were mostly crude, destructive beings that only embodied the darker, baneful impulses of its creators.
The word "Robot" was first used in 1912, in the title of Slavic play Rossum's Universal Robots by Karel Čapek. The word literally means worker in Slavic, and that's how most writers of the early 20th century approached them. In the science fiction pulp magazines robots were humanoid machines capable of inhuman strength and precision, but incapable of performing tasks beyond physical labour. These were mostly electrical appliances that conveniently malfunctioned to provide the stories' adventuring protagonists with a destructive nemesis.
Isaac Asimov grew up reading these stories and wondered if robots could be more than just a symbolic representation of the mechanical, efficient and soulless political uprising of Communism in Europe. His stories in Astounding magazine showed robots that were highly intelligent and capable of solving complicated problems. Over the years through his stories as Asimov advanced the possibilities of robotics he also developed a human-robot relationship. In his "I, Robot" series of stories he showed robots to be not only capable of intelligent thought but also empathy and emotional attachment. But Asimov's continued quest to make robot's more liberated raised the ugly question that had plagued science fiction stories (including Capek's pioneering play)over the years: What if robots turn on their creators?
For Asimov this question led to even deeper philosophical dilemmas of free-will and the limitations of artificial intelligence in perceiving deeper moral issues. Asimov wanted a moral code that would lessen the threat to humanity that a self-conscious machine seemingly posed. With the help of his mentor John Campbell, Asimov developed his famous Three Laws of Robotics. These laws were hard-wired into every robot's "positronic brain". The laws in their earliest form were:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Limited though they may be, Asimov's Laws of Robotics and his efforts in redefining the role of robots in the worlds of science fiction were starting to bear fruit as more and more authors started using robots as more than just plot devices of destruction. He himself took the socially acceptable, intelligent and self-aware robot companion to a whole new level in his 1976 novelette, The Bicentennial Man. In this a house-hold robot named Andrew develops a deep friendship with the young daughter of his master and through his interaction with her develops creative abilities beyond his original programming. In The Bicentennial Man, Asimov openly explores issues of slavery, prejudice, intellectual freedom and mortality. Above all, Asimov questions what it means to be human. Can a robot that has reached a certain level of intelligence and emotional maturity be declared a human? A far cry from the mechanical version of the Golem of Jewish lore, that robots had been for many years.
Today, we have artificial intelligence and robots running every aspect of the technology world. In an era where computers were nothing more than basic calculators, Asimov envisioned today's computers that are helping surgeons diagnose and perform complicated surgical procedures. In 2010, a Slovenian team of surgeons successfully performed heart surgery using the world's first "true robotic surgeon". The robot was more than just a precise instrument, mirroring the hands of the user. Guided by general instructions from the human interface the surgical robot performed the surgery on its own.
We may still be half a century away from Andrew, the Bicentennial Man, but we have primitive robots and AI systems in the gearbox management systems of our cars, in the assisted-landing systems of our aircraft and in the assembly lines of our manufacturing plants.
The world took a massive leap from theory to practical advancements in technology in the past 35 years or so. There is no doubt that in many ways the world is shaping into one once imagined by Asimov and his peers. Many even go as far as to suggest that the greats of Science Fiction helped steer the direction of technological advancements by inspiring generations of scientists with their stories. Others consider them to be prophets who looked at the possibilities scientific discoveries opened up and invisioned the present direction of humanity. Eitherway, Asimov and others of his extraordinary ilk deserve more credit than is thrown their way by the champions of 'literary merit'.
