<P> During the 1950s Asimov wrote a series of science fiction novels expressly intended for young - adult audiences . Originally his publisher expected that the novels could be adapted into a long - running television series, something like The Lone Ranger had been for radio . Fearing that his stories would be adapted into the "uniformly awful" programming he saw flooding the television channels Asimov decided to publish the Lucky Starr books under the pseudonym "Paul French". When plans for the television series fell through, Asimov decided to abandon the pretence; he brought the Three Laws into Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter, noting that this "was a dead giveaway to Paul French's identity for even the most casual reader". </P> <P> In his short story "Evidence" Asimov lets his recurring character Dr. Susan Calvin expound a moral basis behind the Three Laws . Calvin points out that human beings are typically expected to refrain from harming other human beings (except in times of extreme duress like war, or to save a greater number) and this is equivalent to a robot's First Law . Likewise, according to Calvin, society expects individuals to obey instructions from recognized authorities such as doctors, teachers and so forth which equals the Second Law of Robotics . Finally humans are typically expected to avoid harming themselves which is the Third Law for a robot . </P> <P> The plot of "Evidence" revolves around the question of telling a human being apart from a robot constructed to appear human--Calvin reasons that if such an individual obeys the Three Laws he may be a robot or simply "a very good man". Another character then asks Calvin if robots are very different from human beings after all . She replies, "Worlds different . Robots are essentially decent ." </P> <P> Asimov later wrote that he should not be praised for creating the Laws, because they are "obvious from the start, and everyone is aware of them subliminally . The Laws just never happened to be put into brief sentences until I managed to do the job . The Laws apply, as a matter of course, to every tool that human beings use", and "analogues of the Laws are implicit in the design of almost all tools, robotic or not": </P>

Who came up with the concept of the universe as totally subject to mathematical laws