''Machines That Think'' is a compilation of 29

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

stories probing the scientific, spiritual, and moral facets of computers and robots and speculating on their future. It was edited by

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and ...

Martin H. Greenberg Martin Harry Greenberg (March 1, 1941 – June 25, 2011) was an American academic and anthologist in many genres, including mysteries and horror, but especially in speculative fiction. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned ...

, and Patricia S. Warrick. Published in 1984 by

Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools. The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of the ...

, it features a foreword by Asimov, the celebrated creator of the

Three Laws of Robotics The Three Laws of Robotics (often shortened to The Three Laws or known as Asimov's Laws) are a set of rules devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov. The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story " Runaround" (included in the 1950 colle ...

. (At five stories, Asimov's contributions dominate the book's contents.) ''Machines That Think'' was reprinted in 1992 by

Wings Books A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expr ...

as ''War with the Robots''. (However, one story — "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison — was removed.) Each story has introductory notes by Warrick, author of ''The Cybernetic Imagination in Science Fiction'' (1981), explaining the significance of the story in the context of science fiction's evolution of ideas concerning artificial intelligence. This anthology is a companion piece to that non-fiction book, providing the source material upon which Warrick's analysis is based.

External links

* 1984 books Science fiction anthologies Holt, Rinehart and Winston books {{sf-book-stub

Contents

See also

External links