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"At its best, SF is the medium in which our miserable certainty that tomorrow will be different from today in ways we can't predict, can be transmuted to a sense of excitement and anticipation, occasionally evolving into awe."
- John Brunner
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| Robot Doctor | ||
| A mechanical physician. |
First use of this phrase in science fiction, as far as I know.
| From a door high up in the wing, the robot Doctor, garbed in regulation wine gown and covered head, now entered, followed by two nurse and three interne robots.
 ('Flamingo: A Drama of A.D. 1950' by Clarence Edward Heller) Down in the pit was a long white operating table. . . . From a door high up in the wing the robot doctor entered. |
| Technovelgy from Flamingo: A Drama of A.D. 1950,
by Clarence Edward Heller. Published by Amazing Stories in 1930 Additional resources -
|
This use of the phrase takes place in a play, and so the "robot doctor" does not perform any medical tasks.
The earliest use of the phrase "robot doctor" in a story with a functioning robotic physician, as far as I know, is Philip K. Dick's Progeny (1954):
“The event has happened,” Doctor Bish said. His voice was thin and metallic. Ed realized with a sudden shock that the doctor was a robot. A top-level robot, made in humanoid form, not like the ordinary metal-limbed workers. It had fooled him — he had been away so long. Doctor Bish appeared plump and well fed, with kindly features and eyeglasses. His large fleshy hands rested on the desk, a ring on one finger. Pinstripe suit and necktie. Diamond tie clasp. Nails carefully manicured. Hair black and evenly parted.
But his voice had given him away. They never seemed to be able to get a really human sound into the voice. The compressed air and whirling disc system seemed to fall short. Otherwise, it was very convincing...
DOCTOR 2g-Y Bish carefully studied the man standing in front of him. His relays and memory banks clicked, narrowing down the image identification, flashing a variety of comparison possibilities past the scanner.
“I recall you, sir,” Doctor Bish said at last. “You’re the man from Proxima. From the colonies. Doyle. Edward Doyle. Let’s see. It was some time ago. It must have been — ”
“Nine years ago,” Ed Doyle said grimly.
“Hello, Doc.” Ed sat down nervously across from them. “Then it’s all over?”
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Flamingo: A Drama of A.D. 1950
More Ideas
and Technology by Clarence Edward Heller
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