Galley Slave

It opens in 2034, with Simon Ninheimer, a professor of sociology, suing U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men for loss of professional reputation.He contends that robot EZ-27 (aka "Easy"), while leased to Northeastern University for use as a proofreader, deliberately altered and rewrote parts of his book Social Tensions Involved in Space Flight and their Resolution while checking the galley proofs (hence the title).Ninheimer holds that the alterations to his book make him appear an incompetent scholar who has absurdly misrepresented the work of his professional colleagues in fields such as criminal justice.He responds to the robot's intervention by angrily denouncing its disobedience of his order to remain silent, thus implicitly confessing to having attempted to pervert the course of justice.He was motivated by his fear that the automation of academic work would destroy the dignity of scholarship; he argues that EZ-27 is a harbinger of a world in which a scholar would be left with only a barren choice of what orders to issue to robot researchers.
Galley slaveShort storyIsaac AsimovScience fictionGalaxyPeriodicalmagazinehardbackpaperbackRobot seriesLittle Lost RobotThe Rest of the RobotsThe Complete Robotcourtroom dramaprofessorsociologyU.S. Robots and Mechanical MenNortheastern Universitygalley proofsSusan Calvinpervert the course of justiceludditeInternet ArchiveInternet Speculative Fiction DatabaseA Boy's Best FriendSomedayPoint of ViewThink!True LoveRobot AL-76 Goes AstrayVictory UnintentionalStranger in ParadiseLight VerseSegregationistRobbieLet's Get TogetherMirror ImageThe Tercentenary IncidentFirst LawRunaroundReasonCatch That RabbitSatisfaction GuaranteedEscape!EvidenceThe Evitable ConflictFeminine Intuition. . . That Thou Art Mindful of HimThe Bicentennial Man