The three laws of Robotics are that a robot may not (through action or inaction) harm or allow a human to be harmed, that they must obey humans unless it violates Law 1, and must protect themselves unless it violates Laws 1 and 2. With that basic concept, Isaac Asimov spun a collection of thought-provoking stories about these robots of the future -- sad ones, shocking ones, funny ones, and more. 
 Told within the framework of a robot-shrink's reminiscences, "I, Robot" contains several stories: "Robbie," about a little girl's robot nursemaid and best friend who is sent away by her shallow, controlling mother. "Runaround," in which Gregory Powell and Mike Donovan find themselves in a dangerous situation on Mercury -- with Speedy (SPD), a robot who seems to be drunk. Powell and Donovan find more robot trouble with Cutie (QT-1), who creates an entire religious structure with himself as the Master's prophet. "Catch The Robot," where Donovan and Powell have trouble with Dave (DV-5), who takes his underling robots on military marches. 
 "Liar!" presents Herbie (RB), a robot who can read minds -- and is somehow messing with the humans. "Little Lost Robot" presents the Nestor (NS-2) robots, who have a modified sense of the first law -- and one of the robots is lying. "Consolidated" presents the Brain, which builds a ship and sends it away -- with the unlucky Donovan and Powell on board. "Evidence" is against Stephen Byerley, a politician with a very deep, dark secret. And "The Inevitable Conflict" offers a glimpse into the growing influence of machine over man. 
 It's a testament to Isaac Asimov's skill that the stories of "I, Robot" are still so impressive today, despite having been written from 1940 to 1950. With a variety of futuristic robots and the three laws of Robotics, he offers intriguing looks at politics, ethics, theology, and other concepts. Even stuff like senses of humor and white lies are looked at. If a robot can't harm a human, could it tell a human a truthful answer that would make that human feel bad? Could a mass of metal and circuits grow to feel? 
 It also leaves the reader with the feeling that these robots are, in some ways, a little better than humans while resembling them. Like humans, the robots have nutcases, savants, religious fanatics, and egomaniacs -- but the normal robots have a core command that they should not harm humans, something that real humans are sadly lacking in. 
 Susan Calvin is sort of the framework for this collection, although she is only really humanized in "Liar!" Powell and Donovan are everymen who just happen to be "accursed." These poor guys careen helplessly from one disaster to another, and provide most of the comic relief as well. The writing is fairly ordinary, not extremely detailed; it's the subject matter that makes the stories classic. 
 From many generic scifi books, from Star Trek's Data to Star Wars' Threepio and Artoo, there have been a lot of robots who thought, felt, and provided insights or amusement. So take a look at "I, Robot," to see what inspired them.