David West presents Isaac Asimov--Sign Up!

[George Duncan-2]

Dear FRIAMers,

Our distinguished participant David West at St. John's College is transitioning to St. John's Church for a course on the science fiction works of Isaac Asimov about robots. The course is offered under the auspices of RENESAN and you can sign up on their website at renesan.com. Here are some details:

Isaac Asimov and the Robots:

code: LIT F17-02 / $30.00

2 Session(s) 
Thurs  3:15-5:15pm,  September 7 - September 14 

David West is a retired professor of software development/computer science.  His education includes undergraduate degrees in Asian Philosophy and History, a Master’s degree in Computer Science and Cultural Anthropology, and a PhD in cognitive anthropology.  He has been reading science fiction since the first grade – e.g. Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine by Abrashkin and Williams, and Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut – and continues today with at least one science fiction book per week.

 Isaac Asimov is one of the most prolific authors of all time — at least 500 books on physics, chemistry, Bible studies, Shakespeare, Gilbert and Sullivan, mystery, and, of course, science fiction.  He is well known for his Foundation trilogy (later supplemented with two prequels and two sequels); but, especially among the general public, is most famous for his Robot series.  This course will use Asimov’s books, beginning with the short stories collected in I Robot, to explore society’s long-standing fascination with, and fear of, robots and robotic technology.  In addition to I Robot, students are urged to read one of the trilogy (Caves of Steel, Naked Sun, or Robots of Dawn) with R. Daneel Olivaw as the central character. “R” in the name stands for robot and in the last of the trilogy the robots invent a Fourth Law to supplement the original Three Laws of Robotics introduced in I Robot.  An alternative reading is Daniel Saurez’s Kill Decision – about autonomous drones.  The robotic technology described by Saurez and the premise for the novel – autonomous, no human control, and swarming drones – was featured as “state of the practice” in a January 2017 Sixty Minutes episode.

St. John's United Methodist Church

 

1200 Old Pecos Trail

Santa Fe, NM 87505

Look forward to your joining me in this class!

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