Caryn.com Science Fiction Authors: Isaac Asimov

Science Fiction: A Window to the Future

Isaac Asimov

The Three Laws of Robotics

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 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 Law.

Arguably the greatest sci-fi writer of all time. The Foundation series should be a primer for any science fiction literature class, even if it is is written by a man who can't count, since the Foundation "trilogy" ended up having seven books in it. And of course the Robot series definitely is one you can't miss and still call yourself a science fiction fan, since the rules of robotics as they exist today pretty much came from this man's mind. What's even cooler--is that by the end of his career he managed to link the two series together, so you have to read them all to get the full picture...cooler still, that the books written by associates/author-friends after Asimov's death, continuing to build on his "Foundation" do not disappoint...