+Resource blog
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Louis A.'s Recommendation for the 510 Club | August 2024
I cannot help but keep bringing fiction knives to this mathematical gunfight.
Firstly I must insist that if you have seen the film 'adaptation', nothing has been spoiled. Seeing the film may actually leave you less informed about the book than one who has never seen it.
I, Robot is a fun read, with a lot to appeal to the mathematically inclined reader. Most of the stories follow technicians/engineers/scientists in the role of 'detectives' trying to explain or repair various problems.
One of the things that really appeals to me is how Asimov described the robots thinking in terms of differential equations. I would love a more detailed account but that might have required him to do the work of his imagined future luminaries.
The stories interface with the Three Laws of Robotics devised by Asimov.
Examining how they might function if modified or ... extrapolated.
My personal favourites are the stories Liar!, Runaround, and The Evitable Conflict.
WHAT IS THE 510 CLUB?
The 510 Club is named after the Dewey Decimal classification for Mathematics. It is a book recommendation project facilitated by Mathateca that is published in the monthly Christchurch MathsJam newsletter and on the Facebook page. Each month we feature a mathematical book recommendation, whether that’s a novel, articles / essays, a puzzle book, textbook, biography... just as long as it features maths in some way. Read the above book at your leisure then feel free to comment your thoughts below, or come along to the following Christchurch MathsJam sessions to join in an informal maths/book chat with the reviewer.
We're always looking for suggestions! If you're interested in contributing a book rec one month, please email christchurch@mathsjam.com to sign up.
