Authors of Destiny Trivia Quiz

Answer: Karel Capek

The term "robot" was first introduced in Czech writer Karel Capek's 1920 play "R.U.R." ("Rossum's Universal Robots"). Capek was originally going to call them 'labori' (Latin for workers), until his brother Josef suggested that he call them 'roboti', derived from the word "robota" which meant serf labor in Czechoslavakian.

This term was also used figuratively to mean drudgery or menial work. Karel Capek (1890-1938) was not only a playwright but also an essayist, publisher and art critic. Among his novels were "An Ordinary Life" (1934) and "War with the Newts" (1936).

Answer: Robert Heinlein

Smith is the protagonist of "Stranger in a Strange Land" written by Heinlein in 1961. Smith's parents were on the second expedition to Mars. Smith was born on the spacecraft and was the only survivor; he was raised by Martians and ordered to go with them on a voyage back to Earth.

When he arrived, he wound up at Bethesda Hospital because it was initially difficult for his body to adapt to Earth's dense atmosphere and high gravity. The original title for the book was "A Martian Named Smith", but was it was re-titled with part of a quote from the Bible ("Exodus 2:22").

Answer: False

George Orwell was an English novelist born in India in 1903. His birth certificate read 'Eric Arthur Blair', but he took his pen name from the River Orwell in Suffolk, England. Orwell wrote three non-fiction books, the first of which was "Down and Out in Paris and London", published in 1933.

He also wrote six novels; the last two titles may be familiar: "Animal Farm" (1945) and "1984" in 1949. His major themes throughout his writings seemed to be anti-fascism and democratic socialism.

Answer: Coma

Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was sort of a "renaissance" man; he was a best-selling author, a physician, director, producer and screen writer, having produced titles in several genres, i.e., science fiction, thrillers and medical fiction. In 1994 he became the only artist to have work charting at #1 in television ("ER"), movies ("Jurassic Park") and book sales ("Disclosure"), a feat I believe may never be repeated! "Coma" by Robin Cook was published in 1977, and was about four medical students just starting out in 1976. Cook was also a doctor, and is credited with adding the word 'medical' to the thriller genre.

Answer: Isaac Asimov

Did you ever hear that Isaac Asimov is the only author to have published books in all ten categories of the Dewey Decimal System? Well, I just found out it isn't true. In the Dewey Decimal System, categories are arranged from 000 to 900 (look them up if you're interested), but none of Asimov's works were ever classified in the 100s, i.e., Philosophy.

As far as the Three Laws: "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

A robot must protect its own existence as long as [it] does not conflict with the First or Second Law".

Answer: The Salmon of Doubt

"The Salmon of Doubt", an unfinished novel manuscript with 11 chapters, was published in 2002, just a year after Adams' death. Probably his best known work, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", started out as a BBC radio comedy in 1978 before it developed into a "trilogy" of five books! He also wrote three stories for the television series "Doctor Who", and gave us characters like Dirk Gently and Zaphod Beeblebrox but, more importantly, he was able to successfully combine science fiction with humor.

Answer: Guy Montag

The 1953 novel "Fahrenheit 451" was published in 1953 with Guy Montag as a 'fireman' who SETS fires. This dystopian novel is set in some future American society where books are outlawed and firemen are enlisted to burn any books they find; fahrenheit 451 is the temperature required to do the job.

The book was turned into a 1966 movie starring Oskar Werner as Montag and, what I found interesting was that (because of the subject matter), there were no written titles or credits for the film - they were all oral! As for the incorrect choices, Arthur Dent was from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and Bowman and Poole were both in "2001: A Space Odyssey".

Answer: People

In 1973, loosely based on Harrison's novel about the consequences to society of unchecked population growth, director Richard Fleischer made "Soylent Green". The film is set in a starving New York City of the future; Charlton Heston plays detective Robert Thorn who is out to solve the murder of an executive of the processed food rations manufacturer, Soylent Corporation.

When the governor orders him to stop the investigation, Thorn sets out on his own to solve the murder...what he finds is what goes into the corporation's product!

Answer: Cosmos

Perhaps a little off topic, the 1980 PBS series was mainly science fact, but used special effects to allow Sagan to appear to be walking through space. It was a guided tour of the cosmos and a "Spaceship of the Imagination"; its full title was "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage", and it helped make the infinite almost approachable, with the mysteries of the universe explained on a level everyone could understand.

As of 2009, it was still the most widely viewed PBS series (over 500 million people in over 60 countries) in the world.

Answer: the ideal pleasure drug

According to Huxley, "soma" was 'the ideal pleasure drug' in the year 2540. "Brave New World" was published in 1932 and, while it was a fore-runner of many actual developments to come, Huxley had no way of knowing that virtual reality, cults and LSD were on the horizon.

He likened the opiate 'soma' to religion, in that it allowed its users to be controlled; drugs and rituals seemed to offer comfort to the practitioners, at the expense of their individuality. It seems when you sacrifice your own ego, there are always those who are ready to swoop in and take control. Be warned!