Beginning in the 1940s, Isaac Asimov wrote a series of short stories and novels concerning the interaction between robots and humans. Most famously, Asimov developed the Three Laws of Robotics in these works. Examples of this work are Asimov's I, Robot (1952); Robots and Empire (1985); and The Complete Robot (1983).

George Orwell's novel 1984 (1949) is an important book for any student interested in speculative fiction, dystopian novels, or grim visions of a mechanized future. Written at the beginning of the cold war, and depicting the near future, 1984 is a classic novel and necessary background for students of Ellison's "'Repent Harlequin!'"

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932) is another classic of dystopian literature.

Science and Literature: Bridging the Two Cultures (2001), by David Wilson and Zack Bowen, while a sometimes difficult book, offers a compelling interdisciplinary examination of the ways science and the humanities interact...