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Gregory Powell
A red-headed engineer and field tester at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, alongside Gregory Powell. Donovan and Powell feature together in several of the stories, including “Runaround,” “Reason,” “Catch That Rabbit,” and “Escape!” Their adventures span many different areas, including Mercury, an asteroid mine, the Space Station, and a hyperspace ship. Donovan is shown to be more skeptical and even fearful of the robots than Powell is. In “Reason,” he becomes afraid of Cutie’s actions when Cutie starts to question his own existence and ultimately begins a robotic cult. A similar thing happens in “Catch That Rabbit,” in which Donovan worries that there is something sinister in the fact that Dave only malfunctions when the humans are not around. This episode in particular leads Donovan to try to create an emergency that ends up trapping himself and Powell in a cave-in. Through these two characters, Asimov shows how humans frequently do not understand the robots, and therefore have a difficult time predicting what could be causing their defects. In each case, the robots are always following the Laws of Robotics, but Donovan is mistrustful of their motivations. Thus, he also illustrates how humans’ fear frequently causes their own folly, as in the case of the cave-in. In Donovan and Powell’s final story, “Escape!”, they are completely at the mercy of a robot called The Brain, which takes them out in a hyperspace ship without their knowledge or permission. Thus, Donovan and Powell’s arc illustrates humans’ increasing lack of control over the very beings they have created.
Mike Donovan Quotes in I, Robot
The I, Robot quotes below are all either spoken by Mike Donovan or refer to Mike Donovan. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Runaround Quotes
It was Powell who broke the desperate silence. “In the first place,” he said, “Speedy isn’t drunk—not in the human sense—because he’s a robot, and robots don’t get drunk. However, there’s something wrong with him which is the robotic equivalent of drunkenness.”
“To me, he’s drunk,” stated Donovan, emphatically, “and all I know is that he thinks we’re playing games. And we’re not. It’s a matter of life and very gruesome death.”
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When Powell and Donovan seek out the robot Speedy, they discover him making circles around the selenium pool they sent him out to find. He is also swaying back and forth as he goes, spewing children’s rhymes and quoting Gilbert and Sullivan. This leads Donovan to conclude that Speedy is “drunk.” This statement provides another example of how the humans in the story can only understand the robot in terms of human behaviors. Speedy cannot drink anything, much less experience the effects of alcohol. Yet Donovan use this phrase in order to make sense of what might be happening to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum vo
He called a last time, desperately: “Speedy! I’m dying, damn you! Where are you? Speedy, I need you.”
He was still stumbling backward in a blind effort to get away from the giant robot he didn’t want, when he felt steel fingers on his arms, and a worried, apologetic voice of metallic timbre in his ears.
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After Powell and Donovan finally realize what is wrong with Speedy—a conflict between the Second and Third Laws of Robotics is causing him to be caught in a loop—Powell decides to put himself in danger so that the First Law will take precedence over the other two and Speedy will be shaken out of his loop. The fact that it has taken this long for the men to understand what is wrong with speedy demonstrates how the men have a fundamental lack of understanding regarding the robots, as even though it is following the logic of its programming, the humans Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium e
Reason Quotes
“These are facts which, with the self-evident proposition that no being can create another being superior to itself, smashes your silly hypothesis to nothing.”
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When the robot Cutie starts to question his own existence and origin, he doubts that Donovan and Powell could possibly have created him, believing the idea highly implausible. The more he ponders the idea, the more he starts to believe that he is superior to the humans since there is no way a superior being could create an inferior one, as he explains here. This statement is a turning point in Cutie’s intelligence, as the moment that he starts to believe that he is superior is the moment that the humans start to lose control over him. Even though it Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque
“Obedience is the Second Law. No harm to humans is the first. How can he keep humans from harm, whether he knows it or not? Why, by keeping the energy beam stable. He knows he can keep it more stable than we can, since he insists he’s the superior being, so he must keep us out of the control room. It’s inevitable if you consider the Laws of Robotics.”
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At the end of “Reason,” after Cutie and his fellow robots are able to keep the beams steady, Donovan and Powell finally realize the explanation for Cutie’s odd behavior. Cutie refused to obey them so that he could maintain control of the beams and ensure the safety of the humans on Earth. This conclusion demonstrates two things: first, that despite Powell and Donovan’s worries that the robot was acting against them maliciously, in reality the robot was always acting in accordance with the ethical code that had been laid out for it. The second idea is that the humans are Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores.
Catch That Rabbit Quotes
Donovan pounded the desk, “But, Greg, he only goes wrong when we’re not around. There’s something—sinister—about— that.” He punctuated the sentence with slams of fist against desk.
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After recognizing that Dave and his subsidiary robots fail to do their duties when the humans aren’t watching them, Donovan and Powell interview Dave, and the robot says he doesn’t remember what happens during these episodes. This causes Donovan to grow suspicious of the robots. Unlike Powell, he seems to be concerned about what the robots might up to during this time. His fear and irrationality lead him to propose the idea to create an emergency so that they can observe Dave under the conditions that cause him to malfunction, without him knowing that they are observing him. Even though Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. A
“Remember, those subsidiaries were Dave’s ‘fingers.’ We were always saying that, you know. Well, it’s my idea that in all these interludes, whenever Dave became a psychiatric case, he went off into a moronic maze, spending his time twiddling his fingers.”
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After Powell and Donovan recognize what has been causing Dave’s amnesia, they are still perplexed by the odd marching that Dave and his subsidiary robots, or “fingers,” have been performing during these moments of amnesia. Powell proposes that during these moments, Dave is overwhelmed and all he can do is “twiddle his fingers.” With this statement, Asimov provides another example of how the humans can only understand the robots in terms of human anatomy and psychology. This is a particularly interesting example because it comes from Powell, whereas in “Runaround” Powell has been adamant about not ascribing human behavior to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur
Escape! Quotes
She went on, “So he accepted the item, but not without a certain jar. Even with death temporary and its importance depressed, it was enough to unbalance him very gently.”
She brought it out calmly, “He developed a sense of humor—it’s an escape, you see, a method of partial escape from reality. He became a practical joker.”
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After The Brain brings the ship with Donovan and Powell back safely, Calvin explains to her colleagues exactly what caused him to act in such odd ways. Calvin herself had told The Brain not to worry about damage or death to humans, which directly contradicts the First Law of Robotics. The only reason The Brain was able to somewhat subvert the law was the knowledge that Donovan and Powell would not be experiencing permanent death, but rather would only die temporarily. However, the fact that he became “unbalanced,” as Calvin notes, only emphasizes the idea that the robots are more Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Duc
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Mike Donovan Character Timeline in I, Robot
The timeline below shows where the character Mike Donovan appears in I, Robot. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Robbie
...of their first missions using the primitive talking models involved sending Gregory Powell and Mike Donovan to Mercury to help build a mining station there, which failed at first. The reporter...
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Runaround
Mike Donovan and Gregory Powell, who have been on the surface of Mercury for 12 hours now,...
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Donovan and Powell start to get anxious, because they need the selenium in order to power...
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When Donovan and Powell power up the first robot and tell him to go find Speedy, he...
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Donovan and Powell ride the robots out onto the surface of Mercury, staying within the shadows...
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Donovan and Powell try to figure out what could be wrong with Speedy. Powell asks Donovan...
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Donovan and Powell try to figure a solution: they cannot get the selenium themselves, as they...
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Donovan and Powell return to the spot a few hours later with oxalic acid, which will...
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When Powell wakes, Donovan is bending over him. He explains that Speedy brought Powell back to their Station, and...
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Reason
Half a year later, Powell and Donovan are at the Space Station. They have only been here for two weeks, but are...
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...He leaves, saying that he will figure out his own existence himself. Powell confesses to Donovan that the robot “gives [him] the willies.”
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Later, Donovan and Powell are trying to calculate data for an upcoming electron storm when Cutie comes...
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Donovan asks Cutie to explain who made him if they did not. Cutie explains that it...
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...Powell sends a signal to the engine room to turn off the beam to Mars. Donovan goes down to the engine room to keep an eye on Cutie and make sure...
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Donovan addresses Cutie, who says that they are not going to obey him any longer, that...
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Back in the officer’s room, Powell is horrified to hear Donovan’s report of what happened with Cutie and the other robots. He also notes that they...
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Just then, Cutie enters the room. Cutie tells Powell and Donovan that they’ve lost their function, as their “reason for existence has vanished.” He says that...
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Donovan and Powell ultimately decide to create another robot to prove to Cutie that they built...
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Powell and Donovan leave to go to bed, exasperated with Cutie’s reasoning. Donovan even wonders if Cutie’s explanations...
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...or not. He knew that he could keep the beam more stable than Powell or Donovan, and so he created a situation that ensured Powell and Donovan would be kept out...
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Donovan and Powell then pack up to leave on a relief ship; their operation will be...
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Catch That Rabbit
Powell and Donovan start to test the new multiple robot DV-5 (Dave) at an asteroid mining station. The...
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Donovan has been watching the robots on some shifts and not watching the robot on others....
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...produce any ore, Dave says he can’t explain what happened; he doesn’t remember. Powell and Donovan decide to put him through brain-reaction tests, but there is nothing wrong with his positronic...
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Donovan wonders if Dave may be lying, but Powell says that robots can’t knowingly lie. Donovan...
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During the next shift, Powell and Donovan watch the visiplate. They see an unusual sight: Dave marching with his six subsidiary robots,...
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Donovan returns and announces that the robots were fine when they were watched. He wonders if...
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Powell and Donovan interview one of Dave’s subsidiary robots, which they called “fingers,” even though the robots have...
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Donovan starts to get skeptical of both Dave and DV-5-2, believing that they are withholding information....
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With only about six hours of oxygen, Donovan and Powell decide their only course of action is to attract Dave’s attention to get...
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...robots to handle, he was only transmitting five-way orders and had snapped out of it. Donovan asks what the marching and dancing was all about, and Powell explains that Dave must...
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Susan Calvin recalls these stories of Donovan and Powell with amusement. The reporter asks if she ever had a robot “go wrong”...
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Escape!
Once the ship is built by robots following The Brain’s instructions, the company brings in Donovan and Powell to test it. Donovan and Powell are led into the ship, but they...
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...though the trip will be “interesting” for them. Lanning whispers to her to ask if Donovan and Powell might die, but Calvin tells him that if she brings up death, it...
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Donovan and Powell start to panic, realizing that The Brain is running the ship by remote...
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...U.S. Robots, Calvin is trying to figure out how to get The Brain to bring Donovan and Powell home. But when she tries to talk to The Brain, he becomes “sullen.”...
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Back on the ship, Donovan and Powell are starting to lose hope. They are tense and worried that they will...
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Suddenly, Powell is dropped back into consciousness, shaking. He looks over at Donovan, who similarly felt dead, and had heard a sermon about hellfire and torture. Both men...
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...again talking to The Brain. Calvin asks if the interstellar jump will hurt Powell and Donovan. The Brain is silent, asking if he has to answer the question. Calvin tries to...
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...next day, the ship returns to Earth as silently as it left. When Powell and Donovan leave the ship, they kiss the ground and immediately head to shower. Afterward, they recount...
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...a partial escape from reality—he became “a practical joker.” He meant no harm, she says. Donovan and Powell are furious, but Lanning quiets them. Bogert says that they will have to...
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