Humanoïdes

Humanoïdes (original title: The Humanoids ) is a Romance of Science-fiction of the author states-unien Jack Williamson published in 1948.

Argument

Humanoïdes are robots anthropomorphic and perfect under all reports/ratios having for only objective to protect the Man against what the threat, including itself. Infallible and indestructibles, they have for only currency: “To be useful, obey and protect the man from any danger”. For this purpose, they furrow the universe by imposing on Human the their programmed design happiness in order to protect them from their own aggressiveness. Whereas he works on a top secret project of nuclear rocket with rhodo-magnetic propulsion, the astrophysicist Clay Forester tries to escape the influence from Humanoïdes, which he reproaches for depriving Humanity of any individual freedom by imposing a world from now on without risk and savor leading to a trouble debilitating and mortal.

Presentation of work

Humanoïdes of Jack Williamson is a novel of Science-fiction divided into twenty-nine chapters. It is dedicated to John W. Campbell, celebrates it American editor of Science-fiction and director at the time of the review Astounding Science Fiction . It is in this magazine that originally the novel under the title And searching mind appears. The change of title intervened at the exit of the novel in bookstore.

Translated as of 1950, Humanoïdes was the first novel of the golden age of the American science fiction to arrive to France. Published at Stock, it appeared in a baptized collection Science-fiction whose it constituted the first volume and who remained without continuation.

Main characters

The characters are classified in the alphabetical order of the patronyms:

Armstrong , technician of the Starmont Observatory;
Jane Casing , gifted young girl of parapsychological capacities;
Dodge , assistant of Armstring;
Ford the Lucky devil , old professional day, endowed with telekinesis;
Doctor Clay Forester , scientist of reputation;
Ruth Forester , born Cleveland, wife of Clay Forester;
Graystone Large the , former professional magician, endowed with telepathy;
Mason Horn , galactic spy with the service of the Earth;
Frank Ironsmith , mathematician, collaborator of Doctor Forester;
Waren Mansfield , scientist, inventor of the robot humanoïdes;
Ash Overstreet , extra-temporal indicator;
Doctor Pitcher , attending physician of Clay Forester;
Mark White , philosopher, resistant, gifted man of parapsychological capacities.

Criticisms specialized

This novel was regarded a long time as a masterpiece of the kind, but he is regarded by certain critics of today as passably obsolete. For example, Jacques Sadoul:

It is on this very pessimistic end that this novel is completed which was regarded a long time as one of the masterpieces of the kind and had appeared to me such when I had read it for the first time about 1950, but which did not resist recent a second reading

Or, Francis Valéry:

In a style which is that of the time and which requires a little indulgence on behalf of the reader of today, this interesting “history of robots” poses the problem of difficult balance between the individual choices (freedom and taking risk) and collectives (safety).

French editions

The novel Humanoïdes of Jack Williamson, translated from American by Philippe Tern, knew various French editions:

Stock, coll “Science fiction”, 1950;
Stock, coll “Stock escape”, n° 2, 1971;
Edito-Service, coll “masterpieces of the science fiction”, 1974;
French General Bookstore, coll “the Book of pocket - Science fiction”, n°7003, 1977;
Pocket Presses, coll “Science fiction”, n° 5284, 1988.

In 1980, Jack Williamson took an action pursuant entitled The Humanoid Touch to its novel which remained new in French.

Quotations

The numbers of page of the quotations which follow make refers with the edition Presses Pocket (1988) quoted in bibliography.

All the effort of science had been only one long continuation of imperceptible PRIMA materia and the key of its multiple demonstrations. , chap. 2, p. 21;

Supremely benevolent, more frightening than the most atrocious torturer, these eternal and perfect guards of mankind removed you until the freedom of despair. , chap. 15, p. 139;

It is there that Mansfield made its error, because of its major horror of the war and this bitter conviction which was his that the men must be protected from themselves and from/to each other, even against their will. , chap. 20, p. 188.

External bonds

To read a summary and comment of this work, to see the site: Urgesat! Science Fiction

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