The chemical differences aren't big, but.infantry, which means killing on foot.'įor the most part, expert systems running on computers may make use of data from EEG or other monitors to provide a better visualization of the data for medical staff (see Penn Researchers Develop Smart Intensive Care Unit System Using Advanced Computer Intelligence.

'Something is happening in Aristarchus, something that requires a medic.'

Are there occasions when you need people who are, well, unbalanced and not very social? Can an automated medical device provide what is needed to keep you balanced - and then unbalance you if needed? This intriguing story explores the uses of different personalities in society. The autodoc also appears in Madness Has Its Place, a 1990 story by Niven. Davis handed a tiny pink pill from the dispenser slot of the huge autodoc which covered the back wall of the infirmary. Everyone, including himself, had a throbbing blinding headache. 'Nowadays surgery was normally done by autodocs.'įor awhile, Jim Davis was very busy. Here's how Niven uses it in The Warriors (1966): Grown from Nessus himself, probably the faces on the heads looked familiar. There were two heads in there, and two more with necks attached, and enough organs and body parts to make several complete puppeteers. It was a puppeteer-shaped coffin, form-fitted to Nessus himself, and bulky Puppeteer surgeons and mechanics must have intended that it should handle any conceivable circumstance. The term autodoc is probably most associated with Ringworld, which won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards for best novel for Niven.īut they got him into the autodoc anyway. He has had a bad shock, and he is under local anesthetic, and you may not disturb him! You may hear the transcription of our interview when we have it.' He is being questioned while the ‘doc replaces skull and scalp from the back of his head. The autodoc won’t let us wake any of them up, even under police priority, except for Mr. Knudsen did have his spinal cord opened, and some ribs too. Snyder has no eye damage, but the part of his face that he didn’t cover with his hands is being replaced, and the palms, of his hands, and some skin from his back. Also a wide patch of skin on his back, which was taken of almost down to the spinal cord. “You know that Doctor Jansky is having his eyes and face replaced at this moment. Here's a longer quote from World of Ptavvs: Katz flopped back and began to breath deeply. Skarwold pushed a switch and Katz’s autodoc sprayed sedative into his lungs. As far as I know, Niven originated this term, and this is the first instance of its use. The autodoc is an early example of a fully automated device that diagnosed, treated and tended a patient.

The world of ptavvs