The current issue of Science, dated 16 November 2007, is a special edition focusing on robotics. Science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer wrote the editorial on “Robotic Ethics.”
“I think it’s wonderful that the leading scientific journal recognizes that the real-life field of robotics has its roots in science fiction, and that its editors turned to an SF writer to set the stage for their in-depth treatment of the topic,” Sawyer said. His latest novel, Rollback, features a robotic caregiver for an elderly astronomer. “All of us who write about—or build!—robots today stand on the shoulders of Isaac Asimov and Jack Williamson, and I was proud to get to make that
point so prominently.”
In the first six hours after the end of the press embargo on the new issue, Sawyer appeared in seven radio interviews for the CBC, two radio interviews for the BBC, and one interview for the Boston Globe, with more scheduled.
More details, including links to the online version of the editorial, and the podcast based on it, are in Sawyer’s blog.