Too Bad

Too Bad!

—Isaac Asimov

Introduction

Dr Isaac Asimov was born in Russia but went to America with his parents when he was only three years old. He is a prolific writer and has produced a large number of books, both science fiction and non-fiction.

Too Bad! is a science fiction. The action is supposed to take place in the 22nd century. Wonderful robots have been made. Dr. Gregory Arnfeld designed a new type of robot. It is so designed that it can shrink and expand. It can be injected into human body. It can enter the blood stream and destroy cancerous cells. Its creator Dr. Arnfeld is suffering form inoperable cancer. He is first person to use this new technique. The technique was not without its dangers. The robot called Mike is injected in his body. It destroys every cancer cell. But there is the danger part. It can expand and kill the patient. Mike can think. It decides to shrink smaller still. It becomes as small as an election. Then it escapes into the outer space, expands and explodes. It sacrifices itself so that no harm comes to its creator

Summary

THE THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS

1. A robot may not injure human beings. It can not allow a human being come to harm through its inaction.

2. A robot must obey orders given to it by humans except when they are against the First Law.

3. A robot must protect itself as long as it is not against the First or the Second Law.

The action of the story is supposed to take place in the 22nd Century Robotics has greatly advanced. Dr. Gregory Arnfeld has developed a new technique called miniaturization. According to this technique a robot is capable of shrinking and expanding without affecting its surroundings. It can be injected into human body and there it can destroy malignant cells like those of cancer.

Gregory Arnfeld had inoperable cancer. He could not live long. He refused to be treated by chemical or radiation therapy. He firmly believed that he could be treated by the miniaturisation technique. His robot Mike, that was designed for this purpose, could perfectly handle it. His wife Tertia Arnfeld had her doubts. She wanted him to use the other techniques and he could try Mike as the last resort. He had designed Mike in such a way that it could make itself smaller or larger at will without affecting its surroundings. Arnfeld was almost proud of it. He thought his greatest feat would be being successfully treated by a minirobot. He believed it would be a glorious experiment. Of course he admitted there was some risk involved. But there is some risk in every therapy.

Mrs. Arnfeld spoke to Louis Secundo, who was associated with miniaturization. Miniaturization was closely related to quantum mechanics. There is a strong element of the unpredictable. When Mike reduced to its required size there was a danger that it could suddenly begin unplanned expansion that would kill the patient. But he hoped such chance was not there. But chance could not be zero. Dr. Arnfeld was aware of this possibility. But he felt the experiment was worthwhile. There was another possibility too. It was that Mike became as tiny as an electron. Then a little effort on its part would send it flying into the outer space. It could re-expand. If it did, it would burst there without doing harm to anybody.

Mrs. Arnfeld went to see Mike. She had seen it when they were testing it. It remembered her. It greeted her. It assured her that it understood its task. It had to quickly destroy cancer cells in Dr. Arnfeld's body.

Johannes told her that the job could take hours, and every moment of those hours would increase the chance of re-expansion. But Mike assured her that it would do its best to prevent re-expansion.
There was the probability of something untoward. If a full and sudden re-expansion took place, it would blow up the entire operating room and kill every person in it. That is why the observation room was underground, and half a mile away. Mrs. Arnfeld had a grisly sense of assurance that if anything untoward happened, the three miniaturists who were working on the procedure would also die along with her husband. So they would be careful in protecting her husband's life.

Mrs. Arnfeld saw Mike grow smaller and disappear. They injected it into her husband's body. Mike started its action. Mrs. Arnfeld was mildly sedated and slept.

When the experiment had been successfully carried out, Johannes told her about it. But something unexpected had happened. Mrs. Arnfeld explained this to her husband after two days.

Her husband was free from all cancer cells. He wished to see Mike but it was not available. She told him that when it had cleaned up all the tissues, it had to undergo re-expansion. It was risky. Mike decided to make itself small till it was far less massive than an electron. It used his laser beam. The recoil sent it flying into outerspace with the speed of light. It exploded there without causing harm to anyone.

Mike had sacrificed itself to ensure the safety of its creator's life.

Dr. Arnfeld was not happy. He wished Mike were not destroyed. He wanted it for further work. Mrs. Arnfeld thought all that mattered was the safety of her husband's life. But he could not agree with her. He thought it was too bad that Mike had destroyed itself.

Word Meanings

Robotics = study of the use of robots; Conflict = opposition; Inoperable = that which cannot be operated; Strenuously = vigorously, forcefully; Radiation therapy = curing cancer etc. by sending out radioactive waves; Concerned = worried; Last resort = last recourse; Drenching = drowsing, sprinkling; Miniaturization = the process of shrinking or making smal Restore = build up again, renew; Privileged = having an advantage; Initiative = power of acting independently; Wearying = tiresome; Recurs = reappears; Quantum mechanics = concerning radiation of electrons; Unpredictable = unforeseeable, unexpected; Accelerated = with increased speed; Burst = explosion; Warrant = guarantee; Glitch = malfunction, fault; Statistical = concerning numerical facts; Neutrino = having zero mass and travelling at the speed of light; Neighbourhood = about, nearly; Gamma rays = penetrating, electro-magnetic rays; Astronomers = scientists who study heavenly bodies or outerspace; Adamantly = obstinately; Blanket blackout = complete secrecy; Predisposition = having an inherited inclination; Laboured = worked hard; Assiduously = diligently; Eventually = finally, consequently; First-name terms = very intimate friends; Neutral = showing no emotion; Bottom heavy = heavy at the bottom; Bulky = massive; Abdominal = in the middle; Anthropomorphism = having human attributes; Cramium = skull, head; Moronic = mentally deficient; Vestige = trace; Nucleus = the centre; Capillaries = small blood vessels; Grimace = frown; Monitoring = controlling; Random = without plan; Precise = exact; Lesions = injury; Undetectable = that cannot be found; Predicting = foretelling; Media = press, T.V. etc.; Niche = corner, assigned place; Grisly = grim; Condemned to death = sure to die; Cavalier = casual, careless; Imminent = certain, sure to happen; Discomposure = uneasiness; Prohibitively expensive = too expensive to make use of; Submarine = under the sea; Imprecise = inexact; Tissues = substance of the body; Sedated = induced with sleep; Faculties = natural capabilities; Buoyantly = cheerfully; Immune = safe, secure; Recoil = drawback, pushed back; Detected = discovered

Questions You May Be Asked

Q. 1 Give a detailed account of how Mike saved Dr. Gregory Arnfeld's life?

A.1 Dr. Gregory Arnfeld was the inventor of a minirobot that was capable of becoming smaller and smaller. The technique was called miniaturization. The minirobot could be injected in the patient's body. It was equipped with a laser gun. It could recognize cancer cells and destroy them with laser beams. Then it could be taken out of the patient's body. The technique was supposed to be almost risk-free. But it had not yet been tried. There was only one risk involved. The robot could re-expand uncontrollably. If it exploded inside the patient's body it could kill the patient.

Dr. Arnfeld had cancer. He wanted to make an experiment. He wanted that his mini-robot named Mike should be used to clean his body of the cancer cells.

Inspite of protests of his wife, Dr. Arnfeld became the first person by his own choice on which the experiment was made. Mike did his job magnificently. He killed every cancer cell in Dr. Arnfeld's blood stream. But now there was a chance for Mike to re-expand. If he expanded inside he could explode and kill Arnfeld. So he decided to become smaller and smaller till it was no bigger than an electron. Then he used his laser gun. It did not hurt anybody but its recoil sent Mike flying into the outspace at the speed of light. When it was thousands of kilometers away, it re-expanded and burst. Thus the minirobot made a supreme sacrifice to save his master.

Q.2 Do you think that Mike was almost like a human being? Justify your answer with reference from the story.

A.2 Mike was a robot but the technology had so advanced that the robot could reason like humans. Mike was designed to obey three principles of robotics, the First Law is that robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. The Second Law is that a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where that would conflict with the First Law. The Third Law is that a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Mike was so human like that his maker Dr. Arnfeld did not like him to be called 'it'. He loved Mike dearly and would not like to see it come to any harm. He preferred to be saved by Mike rather than by any other therapy. When Mrs. Arnfeld saw Mike he immediately recognised her. He assured her that he knew his job well and would do it as best he could. He knew that he had to recognise every cancerous cells and destroy it.

Mike did his duty well. When he had done his job, there was every possibility of his re-expansion. Mike was aware of the danger. He knew that if he expanded he would explode in Dr. Arnfeld's body which would kill his master. Like a faithful servant he became smaller to save Arnfeld. He did not want to take any risk. So he sacrificed himself. It was like a human being. But in fact, Mike had no choice. A human being might have, or might have not acted the way Mike did. But Mike acted the way he did because he had to obey the First Law mechanically. He could not afford to let his master come to harm through his inaction. So he acted to save Arnfeld.