Powell and Donovan

            The second robot story I wrote, “Reason” (included in this section), dealt with the two field-testers, Gregory Powell and Michael Donovan. They were modeled on certain stories John Campbell wrote, which I admired extravagantly, about a pair of interplanetary explorers, Penton and Blake. If Campbell ever noted the similarity, he said nothing about it to me.

            By the way, I must warn you that the first story in this section, “First Law,” was written as a spoof and is not meant to be taken seriously.