Thomas+A

The Grand Finale
2/15/12 Characters: Daneel Olivaw: One of the main protagonists a nd an extremely advanced robot. The first humanoid or Humaniform robot ever built. He is tall, and powerfully built, and an alomost exact replica of his inventor Dr.Sarton. he is perfectly normal on the outside and you couldnt tell him apart from any other human unless you knew him.He has a cerebroanalysis machine built in(a futuristic lie detector test), and his outer skin is sealled shut except to special touches of his fingers that release the magnetic seals that expose his inner workings.

Elijah Baley: He is the other main protagonist in Caves of Steel, and is an earthborn policeman. He is shorter than Daneel, and has dark hair and eyes. He has a quick mind and good judgement, which however is sometimes clouded by his avid aversion to robots. He also has a great dislike of the outdoors due to being raised in a city, which are completly enclosed and sealed off from the outside. this prejudice towards robots causes him to accuse Daneel of many unreasonable things (murder for example). However the two go on to become great freinds by the end of the novel and up solving the hardest case of his career. The murder of Dr. Roj Sarton.

Jessie Navodny: Elijah's wife,and a minor charachter both protagonist and antagonist(but not at the same time). She is secretly a medievalist, but is not really an active member to the organization. She is about the same height as Lije (Elijah), which is not excatly specified. She also has dark hair and eyes but more so than Lije. We eventually learn that her full name is Jezebel, like the wicked queen from the old testament, she despises this name however and is known to everyone as Jessie. She is caught by Lije and Daneel later in the novel and is so overcome by the truth of what she was a part of that she turns and helps them solve the mystery.

Julius Enderby: Lije's boss, Commissioner Enderby is one of the plausible murderer and is frequently accused, by Lije, of Dr.Sartons murder as well as Daneel. He is an older man and has whitish blonde hair but is remarkably fit, and taller than Lije, and wears glasses which he seems to be cleaning constantly, this seems to be a nervous habit of his. He also ,however is the one with the most airtight alibi.

Summary: The novel starts in the year 5020, with a typical day at the office for officer, Class 5 rated, Elijah "Lije" Baley, and being called on to see Enderby by the offices robotic messenger boy R.Sammy. There has been a tragic murder of one of the universes most brilliante roboticists Dr. Roj Nemmenuh Sarton in his home in Spacetown, near New York city. He was shot earlier that morning in the head and found by one of his robots(namely Daneel). Lije is to find the murderer, but not without help, and he is asssigned to leave for Spacetown to pick him up. His partner is none other than R.Daneel Olivaw, a man who is not a man. They have many adventures to various parts of town like the nuclear power plant and some abandoned areas in search of clues and to avoid pursuers who knew that Daneel was a robot and wished to destroy him. They finally figure out the identity and the method the murderer used to get the weapon into Spacetown, who and how, I cant say you'll have to find out for yourself.

Rating: My rating of Isaac Asimov's __Caves of Steel__ is a 5. this is because there is no possible way to improve the narritive qualities or plot in any way I can think of. Asimov has a timeless quality to his writing that makes it a classic in american literature. His charachters, settings, and ingenious plots draw the reader in for the ride of their life.

Wiki Reflections: I Believe that this blog is an excellent medium for students to express their thoughts on reading in comparison to all other forms i have seen or usede before. The possibility of the writer to express themselves fully is achieved through the addition of web based media, such as pictures, hyperlinks to futher explain points, and easily preparable tables and other such devices. It is in the best intrest of the english program at Boone High School to continue the use of this interactive creative medium in the education of its students. Not only as an invaluable resource but as an extremely useable tool that they can continue to use throughout their lives.

2/4/12[[image:20127thhourenglish3b/untitled.png width="262" height="281" align="right" caption="http://www.networkworld.com/community/files/imce/img_blogs/robotics.jpg"]]
So I finally finished the __The Caves of Steel__ as well as __The Naked Sun__ and I have to say they were very thought provoking. In __The Caves of Steel__ a Spacer has been murdered and Elijah Baley has been called onto the case but there's a catch. He must work with and extremely humanoid robot that was designed by the Spacers to gather information about the population of Earth. The robot's name is Daneel Olivaw, he is the only model made so far and this is his first real test. He looks like talks like and can even eat like a human, though because he is a robot he is also stronger faster and more logical but he has no reasoning. The novel gets its name from the spacer term for The Cities inhabited by Earth's population, Steel Caves. So named because the earthmen are completly isolated from the outside world by large domes that completly suround the city in steel and glass, the air is filtered the sun is completly blocked out and there are no signs of nature anywhere. There is no natural food food for most people, it is moslty yeast synthesized, and what food there is almost requires a prescription to get. The novels greatest strenght lies in these facts and how plausible he makes them seem, the class division government regulation of how many children are allowed to a certain class, the extreme overpopulation of earth (over 8 billion when last mentioned in the book and not so far from where we are now), and the lack of jobs due to robot development. If this is where we are headed it scares me, the answer to fixing the population problem on earth is to colonize other habitable worlds and disperse ourselves. Otherwise the future looks very grim.

What has yet to happen can be undone.
1/27/12 I was going to tell you what I have read in __The Caves of Steel__ however I unfortunately have not read more than two pages into it because I have been so totally absorbed by Tom Clancy's thriller, __Splinter Cell: Conviction__. [|Tom Clancy] is one of the best authors I have read this year. Which is easy to say considering it just started. though when i looked it appears i have skipped afew having only read the first novel __Splinter Cell__. this novel will blow your mind, the tactics and events are so completely plausible it scares me. It is also exploding with car chases, infiltrations and firefights. KAPOW! did you hear that? That was you mind, consider it blown. = = = = = = = = = = = = =Injustice, is served.=

1/20/12
I have just finished Asimov's __I, Robot__ and am now starting __The Caves of Steel__ which is a future-esque noir, detective story set in the 5020's. Robots are very advanced and can do just about anything. but before I get into The Caves, I will sum up __I, Robot__. the most recurent charachter is Susan Calvin. A robophsycologist for the united states robots and mechanical men inc. She is 75 at the start of the novel. She has a very frosty attitude toward things and poeple who she doesn't like, many describe her as robotic or inhuman. She and the company are not well like on earth simply because of the opposition to robots taking jobs on earth from humans. The opposition only got stronger when robots got more humanoid and gained the abliity of speech. she clearly doesn't get along well with people she doesn't like, unless there is something important that depends on it. She is also very motivated by her job, to analyze the positroonic brains of robots and improve them, she also develops strong connections with those robots. she has morals though diferent from the average human. She is very protective of her robots and goes to great lengths to prevent harm to them. She considers them better than human beings. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =The Genius that is Asimov=

1/13/12
I have chosen to read Isaac Asimov's robot series. The first book of which is called I, Robot. These books are a collection of short stories about earth 50 yaers in the future, or around 2000. They describe the injustices that were evident in the 50's and now but apply them instead to robots instead of humans. It is shaping up to be one of the better series I have read this year.