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Reason

Isaac Asimov

First published April 1941
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story
Series The Positronic Robot Stories › Mike Donovan

Synopsis

Donovan and Powell are testing a new advanced robot to take over for humans at a star base, its main task to keep an energy converter stable so the star's energy is fed directly to a receiver on Earth. The robot, however, develops a superiority complex, reasoning that it is an improved human, and that the converter itself is its master.

External Links

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Publications (98)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
April 1941 Astounding Science-Fiction, April 1941 Street & Smith Publications, Inc. MAGAZINE 33
April 1941 Astounding Science-Fiction, April 1941 Atlas Publishing and Distribution Co. Ltd MAGAZINE 33
1950 I, Robot Gnome Press Collection 63
1950 I, Robot Gnome Press Collection
1952 I, Robot Grosset & Dunlap Collection
1952 I, Robot Grayson & Grayson Collection
March 1954 I, Robot The Science Fiction Book Club (UK) Collection
March 1956 I, Robot Signet / New American Library Collection 45
May 1957 I, Robot Signet / New American Library Collection 45
1958 I, Robot Digit Books Collection
January 1961 I, Robot Signet Collection 45
June 1962 A Century of Science Fiction Simon & Schuster Anthology 26
July 1962 A Century of Science Fiction Simon & Schuster / SFBC Anthology 26
1963 I, Robot Doubleday Collection 59
February 1963 A Century of Science Fiction Dell Anthology 27
August 1963 I, Robot Doubleday / SFBC Collection 59
November 1963 A Century of Science Fiction Gollancz Anthology 26
January 1964 A Century of Science Fiction Gollancz Anthology 26
April 1964 I, Robot Signet / New American Library Collection 45
1966 A Century of Science Fiction Pan Books Anthology 31
March 1966 I, Robot Doubleday Collection 59
1967 I, Robot Dennis Dobson Collection 59
1968 I, Robot Panther Collection 52
1968 I, Robot Panther Collection 52
July 1968 I, Robot Signet / New American Library of Canada Collection 45
1969 I, Robot Panther Collection 52
August 1970 I, Robot Fawcett Crest Collection 47
1971 I, Robot Panther Collection 52
April 1971 A Century of Science Fiction Gollancz Anthology 26
1972 A Century of Science Fiction BCA - Book Club Associates Anthology 26
1973 I, Robot Panther Collection 52
1974 I, Robot Panther Collection 52
December 1974 Space Odysseys Futura Anthology 80
1975 I, Robot Panther Collection 52
1975 I, Robot Panther / Granada Collection 52
March 1975 Space Odysseys Weidenfeld & Nicolson Anthology
November 1975 Decade the 1940s Macmillan UK Anthology
May 1976 Space Odysseys: A New Look at Yesterday's Futures Doubleday Anthology 59
April 1977 Decade the 1940s Pan Books Anthology 45
April 1977 I, Robot Doubleday / SFBC Collection 59
June 1977 I, Robot Panther Collection 52
1978 Decade: The 1940s St. Martin's Press Anthology 42
1978 I, Robot Panther / Granada Collection 52
April 1978 Space Odysseys Berkley Books Anthology 59
May 1978 Decade: The 1940s St. Martin's Press Anthology 42
October 1978 Science Fiction of the Forties Avon Anthology 29
December 1979 From Heinlein to Here Mentor / New American Library Anthology 40
1980 I, Robot Fawcett Crest Collection 47
1981 I, Robot Granada Collection 52
April 1982 The Complete Robot Doubleday Collection 227
July 1982 The Complete Robot Doubleday & Company / SFBC Collection 227
October 1982 The Complete Robot Granada Collection 227
1983 The Robot Collection Doubleday Omnibus
May 1983 Science Fiction: A Historical Anthology Oxford University Press Anthology 318
May 1983 Science Fiction: A Historical Anthology Oxford University Press Anthology 318
December 1983 I, Robot Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 47
December 1983 I, Robot Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 47
1984 The Complete Robot Panther Collection 280
1984 I, Robot Panther / Granada Collection 52
1984 The Complete Robot Panther Collection 280
April 1984 Isaac Asimov Presents the Best Science Fiction Firsts Beaufort Books Anthology 209
July 1984 I, Robot Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 47
November 1984 I, Robot Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 47
July 1985 I, Robot Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 47
August 1985 I, Robot Del Rey / Ballantine Collection 47
1986 The Complete Robot Grafton Collection 280
May 1986 I, Robot Grafton Collection 52
1988 The Complete Robot Grafton Collection 280
1990 The Complete Robot Grafton Collection 280
1990 Robot Visions Guild Publishing Collection 63
April 1990 Robot Visions Roc / Penguin Collection 71
September 1990 Robot Visions Gollancz Collection 63
March 1991 Robot Visions Roc / New American Library Collection 71
May 1991 Robot Visions VGSF / Victor Gollancz Collection 63
December 1991 I, Robot Bantam Spectra Collection 56
1992 I, Robot Doubleday Collection 47
1993 The Complete Robot HarperCollins (UK) Collection 280
September 1993 Robot Visions VGSF / Gollancz Collection |10
October 1993 I, Robot HarperCollins (UK) Collection 61
1995 The Complete Robot Voyager Collection 280
1996 Isaac Asimov Presents the Best Science Fiction Firsts Barnes & Noble Books Anthology 209
July 1996 From Heinlein to Here Borealis / White Wolf Publishing Anthology 16
July 1996 I, Robot Bantam Spectra Collection 56
February 1997 Robot Visions Vista Collection |10
1999 Read Into the Millennium: Tales of the Future Millbrook Press Anthology 57
November 2000 The Complete Robot Doubleday / SFBC Collection 227
April 2001 Robot Visions Gollancz Collection |10
March 2002 From Heinlein to Here Scarecrow Press Anthology 18
June 2004 I, Robot Bantam Spectra Collection 46
June 2004 I, Robot Bantam Spectra Collection 56
July 2004 Robot Visions Roc / New American Library Collection 71
August 2010 The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction Wesleyan University Press Anthology 160
August 2010 The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction Wesleyan University Press Anthology 160
March 2013 I, Robot Harper Voyager (UK) Collection 54
June 2013 I, Robot HarperVoyager / HarperCollinsPublishers Collection 53
September 2015 Robot Visions Recorded Books Collection |63
May 2018 The Complete Robot HarperVoyager Collection 242
May 2018 I, Robot HarperVoyager / HarperCollinsPublishers Collection 53