The Complete Robot is a collection of 31 science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 short stories

Short Stories

Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...

 by Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...

 written between 1939 and 1977. Most of the stories had been previously collected in the books I, Robot

I, Robot

I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950. The stories are...

and The Rest of the Robots

The Rest of the Robots

The Rest of the Robots is a collection of eight short stories and two full-length novels by Isaac Asimov. The stories, centred on positronic robots, are all part of the Robot Series, most of which take place in the Foundation universe...

, while four stories had previously been uncollected and the rest had been scattered across five other anthologies

Anthology

An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...

. Although working well enough as standalone stories, they share a theme of the interaction of humans, robots and morality, and put together tell a larger story of Asimov's fictional history of robotics

Robotics

Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...

. The stories are grouped into categories.

Contents

• Introduction
• Some Non-human Robots
  • "A Boy's Best Friend
    A Boy's Best Friend
    "A Boy's Best Friend" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1975. It has been collected in The Complete Robot and first appeared in Boys' Life, March 1975.-Plot summary:...
    
    "
  • "Sally"
  • "Someday
    Someday (short story)
    Someday is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the August 1956 issue of Infinity Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections Earth Is Room Enough , The Complete Robot , Robot Visions , and The Complete Stories, Volume 1 .-Plot summary:The story is set in a...
    
    "
• Some Immobile Robots
  • "Point of View"
  • "Think!
    Think! (Asimov short story)
    Think! is a science-fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that first appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in its very first issue...
    
    "
  • "True Love"
• Some Metallic Robots
  • "Robot AL-76 Goes Astray"
  • "Victory Unintentional
    Victory Unintentional
    Victory Unintentional is a humorous science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, originally published in the August 1942 issue of Super Science Stories and included in the collections The Rest of the Robots and The Complete Robot...
    
    "
  • "Stranger in Paradise
    Stranger In Paradise (short story)
    Stranger in Paradise is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was written in the summer of 1973 for an anthology of original stories edited by Judy-Lynn del Rey, but was rejected by her. It was also rejected by Ben Bova for Analog Science Fiction and Fact before being accepted for If...
    
    "
  • "Light Verse
    Light Verse (short story)
    Light Verse is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the September-October 1973 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. It later appeared in the collections Buy Jupiter and Other Stories , The Complete Robot , and Robot Dreams...
    
    "
  • "Segregationist"
  • "Robbie"
• Some Humanoid Robots
  • "Let's Get Together"
  • "Mirror Image"
  • "The Tercentenary Incident
    The Tercentenary Incident
    The Tercentenary Incident is a science-fiction/mystery short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the August 1976 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and reprinted in the collections The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories and The Complete Robot .Ellery Queen editor Frederic...
    
    "
• Powell and Donovan
  • "First Law
    First Law
    "First Law" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, first published in the October 1956 issue of Fantastic Universe magazine and later collected in The Rest of the Robots and The Complete Robot...
    
    "
  • "Runaround
    Runaround
    "Runaround" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, featuring his recurring characters Powell and Donovan. It was written in October 1941 and first published in the March 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction...
    
    "
  • "Reason"
  • "Catch That Rabbit
    Catch that Rabbit
    "Catch that Rabbit" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that was first published in the February 1944 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections I, Robot and The Complete Robot .-Plot summary:...
    
    "
• Susan Calvin
  Susan Calvin
  Dr. Susan Calvin is a fictional character from Isaac Asimov's Robot Series. She was the chief robopsychologist at US Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc., the major manufacturer of robots in the 21st century...
  
  
  • "Liar!
    Liar!
    "Liar!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the May 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and was reprinted in the collections I, Robot and The Complete Robot . It was Asimov's third published positronic robot story...
    
    "
  • "Satisfaction Guaranteed"
  • "Lenny"
  • "Galley Slave
    Galley Slave
    "Galley Slave" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, originally published in Galaxy, December 1957, and included in the collection The Rest of the Robots. Asimov identified it as his favorite among those of his robot stories featuring the character of Susan Calvin.The story is a...
    
    "
  • "Little Lost Robot
    Little Lost Robot
    "Little Lost Robot" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the March 1947 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections I, Robot , The Complete Robot , Robot Dreams , and Robot Visions ."Little Lost Robot" was adapted by Leo Lehman for...
    
    "
  • "Risk"
  • "Escape!
    Escape!
    Escape! is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published as "Paradoxical Escape" in the August 1945 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted as "Escape!" in the collections I, Robot and The Complete Robot .-Plot summary:Many research organizations are working to...
    
    "
  • "Evidence"
  • "The Evitable Conflict
    The Evitable Conflict
    The Evitable Conflict is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the June 1950 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and subsequently appeared in the collections I, Robot , The Complete Robot , and Robot Visions .-Plot summary:The "Machines", powerful positronic computers...
    
    "
  • "Feminine Intuition"
• Two Climaxes
  • ". . . That Thou Art Mindful of Him"
  • "The Bicentennial Man
    The Bicentennial Man
    The Bicentennial Man is a novella in the Robot Series by Isaac Asimov. It was awarded the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for best science fiction novelette of 1976....
    
    "
• A Last Word

Stories not set in the Foundation universe

"Victory Unintentional

Victory Unintentional

Victory Unintentional is a humorous science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, originally published in the August 1942 issue of Super Science Stories and included in the collections The Rest of the Robots and The Complete Robot...

" does not belong to the Robot Series

Isaac Asimov's Robot Series

Isaac Asimov's Robot Series is a series of short stories and novels by Isaac Asimov featuring positronic robots.- Short stories :Most of Asimov's robot short stories are set in the first age of positronic robotics and space exploration...

, even though it is about Asimov's positronic robots who obey the Three Laws of Robotics

Three Laws of Robotics

The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov and later added to. The rules are introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround", although they were foreshadowed in a few earlier stories...

.

Stories that are about Asimov's positronic robots that do not obey the Three Laws of Robotics

Three Laws of Robotics

The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov and later added to. The rules are introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround", although they were foreshadowed in a few earlier stories...

:

• "Let's Get Together" robots are used as parts of a bomb that will explode when they get together.
• In "Someday
  Someday (short story)
  Someday is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the August 1956 issue of Infinity Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections Earth Is Room Enough , The Complete Robot , Robot Visions , and The Complete Stories, Volume 1 .-Plot summary:The story is set in a...
  
  " there are non-positronic computers which tell stories and don't obey the Three Laws.
• In "Sally" there are positronic brain cars who can damage men or disobey without problems. No other kinds of robots are seen, and there is no mention of the Three Laws.
• In ". . . That Thou Art Mindful of Him" robots are created with a very flexible Three Laws management, and these create little, simplified robots with no laws that actually act against the Three Laws of Robotics.

Robot stories not included

This collection includes most of Asimov's robot stories, but not all (primarily as he wrote additional robot stories after its publication). Asimov robot stories not included in this book are:

• the binding text from I, Robot
  I, Robot
  I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950. The stories are...
  
  
• "Robot Dreams
  Robot Dreams (Asimov short story)
  "Robot Dreams" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov exploring the unbalance of robot/human relationships under Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.-Publication:...
  
  " (found in the anthology of the same title)
• "Robot Visions" (found in the anthology of the same title)
• "Too Bad!" (found in Robot Visions
  Robot Visions
  Robot Visions is a collection of science fiction short stories and factual essays by Isaac Asimov. Many of the stories are reprinted from other Asimov collections, particularly I, Robot and The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories...
  
  )
• "Christmas Without Rodney" (found in Robot Visions)
• "Cal" (found in Gold
  Gold (Asimov)
  Gold: The Final Science Fiction Collection is a collection of Isaac Asimov's stories and essays. The stories, which comprise its first half, are short pieces which had remained uncollected at the time of Asimov's death. As such, they have been criticized by some as inept or below par—what the...
  
  )
• "Kid Brother" (found in Gold)
• "Mother Earth" (found in The Early Asimov
  The Early Asimov
  The Early Asimov or, Eleven Years of Trying is a 1972 collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov. Each story is accompanied by commentary by the author, who gives details about his life and his literary achievements in the period in which he wrote the story.-Contents:* "The Callistan Menace" *...
  
  )