Susan Calvin
Encyclopedia
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. She was the main character in many short stories
from the books I, Robot
and The Complete Robot
.
Graduating with a bachelor's degree from Columbia University
in 2003, she began post-graduate work in cybernetics, learning to construct positronic brains such that responses to given stimuli could be accurately predicted. Obtaining her Ph.D. in 2008, she joined US Robots the same year as their first Robopsychologist. By 2029, when she left Earth for the first time to visit Hyper Base, her formal title was Head Psychologist.
When starting her work as a Psychiatrist in 2035, she was handed three cases: a traumatized girl that has not talked for 6 years, an obese Africa-American boy that can't stop eating, and a 4 year old girl accused of attempted murder
Susan Calvin retired from US Robots in 2057 but continued to act as an occasional consultant for the company. She died in 2064, aged 82.
", when asked "Are robots so different from men?", she replies, "Worlds different. Robots are essentially decent." Asimov's own stories leave her misanthropy
largely unexplained, but Harlan Ellison's
screenplay adaptation of I, Robot investigates its origins, in the end concluding that her attitudes are rather well-founded.
One of the continuing themes in Asimov's work is the essential irony that, although the Three Laws of Robotics
make robots value human beings over themselves, Susan Calvin's estimation of robotic decency may not be entirely wrong.
An excerpt from I, Robot has this to say about Dr. Calvin: "She is a small woman, but there is a towering strength in her face. Tensile strength, that speaks to endurance, to maintaining in the imperfect world. Her mouth is thin, and her face pale. Grace lives in her features, and intelligence; but she is not an attractive woman. She is not one of those women who in later years it can be said of them, 'She must have been a beauty when she was younger.' Susan Calvin was always plain. And clearly, always a powerful personality."
It was not until a mention of her in The Robots of Dawn
, Asimov's third Elijah Baley
Robot novel, that the events of her era (the 21st century) were concretely tied into those of Baley's era, at least two-and-a-half millennia further into the future, and thus into the greater Foundation universe as a whole.
in an adaption of "Little Lost Robot
" for the TV series Out of This World
, then later played by Beatrix Lehmann
in the 1967 "The Prophet
", and followed by Wendy Gifford in 1969's "Liar!
" both being episodes in the series Out of the Unknown
. Ann Firbank portrayed the character, renamed Inge Jensen, in the Out of the Unknown adaptation of "Satisfaction Guaranteed". Margaret Robertson played her in the BBC Radio 4
adaptation of the same story.
In the film I, Robot
, Calvin is played by Bridget Moynahan
and serves as an operative who "makes the robots seem more human" and is completely dependent on the Three Laws of Robotics
. She initially does not believe in Del Spooner's assertion that robots can be bad, despite running into the lawless NS-5 "Sonny". She eventually finds out that Sonny actually did kill Dr. Alfred Lanning.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from Isaac Asimov's
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...
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...
. She was the chief robopsychologist
Robopsychology
Robopsychology is the study of the personalities of intelligent machines. The term and the concept were popularised by Isaac Asimov in the short stories collected in I, Robot, which featured robopsychologist Dr...
at US Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc
U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men
The fictional corporation U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. is the major manufacturer of robots in the 21st century in Isaac Asimov's Robot Series of novels and short stories....
., the major manufacturer of robots in the 21st century. She was the main character in many 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...
from 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 Complete Robot
The Complete Robot
The Complete Robot is a collection of 31 science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov written between 1939 and 1977. Most of the stories had been previously collected in the books I, Robot and The Rest of the Robots, while four stories had previously been uncollected and the rest had been...
.
Biography
According to Asimov's fictional history of robotics, Susan Calvin was born in 1982, the same year that US Robots and Mechanical Men was incorporated. At 16 she wrote the first of many papers on robotics, a Physics-1 paper entitled 'Practical Aspects of Robotics'. Four years later in 2002, she attended a Psycho-Math seminar at which Dr Alfred Lanning of US Robots demonstrated the first mobile robot to be equipped with a voice.Graduating with a bachelor's degree from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 2003, she began post-graduate work in cybernetics, learning to construct positronic brains such that responses to given stimuli could be accurately predicted. Obtaining her Ph.D. in 2008, she joined US Robots the same year as their first Robopsychologist. By 2029, when she left Earth for the first time to visit Hyper Base, her formal title was Head Psychologist.
When starting her work as a Psychiatrist in 2035, she was handed three cases: a traumatized girl that has not talked for 6 years, an obese Africa-American boy that can't stop eating, and a 4 year old girl accused of attempted murder
Susan Calvin retired from US Robots in 2057 but continued to act as an occasional consultant for the company. She died in 2064, aged 82.
Character profile
Typically, Asimov portrays Dr. Calvin as a highly driven woman, focused on her work and divorced from normal emotions, almost more "robotic" than her mechanical characters. She likes robots considerably more than human beings; in "EvidenceEvidence (Asimov)
Evidence is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the September 1946 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections I, Robot , The Complete Robot , and Robot Visions .Many people choose to see Asimov's treatment of technophobia as an...
", when asked "Are robots so different from men?", she replies, "Worlds different. Robots are essentially decent." Asimov's own stories leave her misanthropy
Misanthropy
Misanthropy is generalized dislike, distrust, disgust, contempt or hatred of the human species or human nature. A misanthrope, or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings...
largely unexplained, but Harlan Ellison's
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
screenplay adaptation of I, Robot investigates its origins, in the end concluding that her attitudes are rather well-founded.
One of the continuing themes in Asimov's work is the essential irony that, although 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...
make robots value human beings over themselves, Susan Calvin's estimation of robotic decency may not be entirely wrong.
An excerpt from I, Robot has this to say about Dr. Calvin: "She is a small woman, but there is a towering strength in her face. Tensile strength, that speaks to endurance, to maintaining in the imperfect world. Her mouth is thin, and her face pale. Grace lives in her features, and intelligence; but she is not an attractive woman. She is not one of those women who in later years it can be said of them, 'She must have been a beauty when she was younger.' Susan Calvin was always plain. And clearly, always a powerful personality."
It was not until a mention of her in The Robots of Dawn
The Robots of Dawn
The Robots of Dawn is a "whodunit" science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov, first published in 1983. It is the third novel in Asimov's Robot series.It was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1984.- Plot summary :...
, Asimov's third Elijah Baley
Elijah Baley
Elijah Baley is a fictional character in Isaac Asimov's Robot series. He is the main character of the novels The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn, and of the short story "Mirror Image". He is seen in flashbacks several times and talked about frequently in Robots and Empire,...
Robot novel, that the events of her era (the 21st century) were concretely tied into those of Baley's era, at least two-and-a-half millennia further into the future, and thus into the greater Foundation universe as a whole.
Portrayals in other media
She was played by three separate actresses in British television, beginning in 1962 with Maxine AudleyMaxine Audley
Maxine Audley was an English theatre and film actress. She made her professional stage debut in July 1940 at the Open Air Theatre. Throughout her career, Audley performed with both the Old Vic company and the Royal Shakespeare Company multiple times...
in an adaption of "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...
" for the TV series Out of This World
Out of This World (UK TV series)
Out of This World is a British science fiction anthology television series made by ABC Television and broadcast in 1962. A spin-off from the popular anthology series Armchair Theatre, each episode was introduced by the actor Boris Karloff. Many of the episodes were adaptations of stories by...
, then later played by Beatrix Lehmann
Beatrix Lehmann
Beatrix Alice Lehmann was a British actress, theatre director and author.She trained at the RADA and made her stage debut as Peggy in a 1924 production The Way of the World at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. As well as her extensive theatrical career she appeared in films and on television...
in the 1967 "The Prophet
Reason (Asimov)
Reason is an science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that was first published in the April 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and collected in I, Robot , The Complete Robot , and Robot Visions...
", and followed by Wendy Gifford in 1969's "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...
" both being episodes in the series Out of the Unknown
Out of the Unknown
Out of the Unknown is a British television science fiction anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Each episode was an independent dramatisation of a separate science fiction short story...
. Ann Firbank portrayed the character, renamed Inge Jensen, in the Out of the Unknown adaptation of "Satisfaction Guaranteed". Margaret Robertson played her in the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
adaptation of the same story.
In the film I, Robot
I, Robot (film)
I, Robot is a 2004 science-fiction action film directed by Alex Proyas. The screenplay was written by Jeff Vintar, Akiva Goldsman and Hillary Seitz, and is very loosely based on Isaac Asimov's short-story collection of the same name. Will Smith stars in the lead role of the film as Detective Del...
, Calvin is played by Bridget Moynahan
Bridget Moynahan
Kathryn Bridget Moynahan , best known as Bridget Moynahan, is an American model and actress. After graduating from Longmeadow High School in 1989, Moynahan pursued a career in modeling. She was signed by a modeling agency, which led her to appear in department store catalogs and the covers of...
and serves as an operative who "makes the robots seem more human" and is completely dependent on 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...
. She initially does not believe in Del Spooner's assertion that robots can be bad, despite running into the lawless NS-5 "Sonny". She eventually finds out that Sonny actually did kill Dr. Alfred Lanning.
List of Stories featuring Susan Calvin
- "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"Evidence (Asimov)Evidence is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the September 1946 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections I, Robot , The Complete Robot , and Robot Visions .Many people choose to see Asimov's treatment of technophobia as an...
- "The Evitable ConflictThe Evitable ConflictThe 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"
- "Galley SlaveGalley 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...
" - "Lenny"
- "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...
" - "Little Lost RobotLittle 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"
- "Robbie" (cameo as a teenage girl in 1998)
- "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:...
- "RunaroundRunaround"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...
" (briefly mentioned by Gregory Powell) - "Satisfaction Guaranteed"
- Foundation's FriendsFoundation's FriendsFoundation's Friends, Stories in Honor of Isaac Asimov is a 1989 festschrift honoring science fiction author Isaac Asimov, in the form of an anthology of short stories set in Asimov's universes, particularly the Robot/Empire/Foundation universe. The anthology was edited by Martin H...
:- "Balance"
- "PAPPI"
- "Plato's Cave"
- "The Fourth Law of Robotics"