Conference noted::sf

    Author is Isaac Asimov, title is something like "Solution
    Satisfactory", it's the second part of a two-parter/two related
    stories.
    
    Gimmick is that the robots never tell the Jupiter people that
    they are robots, and so make the natives scared of humans.
    
    			-John Bishop

The story is "Victory Unintentional", by Isaac Asimov, and appears in the
collection "The Rest of the Robots", the second of which the first
collection is "i, robot".  These two collections together with another
collection titled "The Bicentennial Man" and some other stories were
published as "The Complete Robot" by Doubleday & Company, inc., in 1982. 
This in turn was combined with the first two robot novels, "The Caves of
Steel" and "The Naked Sun" to form "The Robot Collection", also by
Doubleday.

The trick to this story is that the robots in question are not very bright,
and they know it, thus, they are very modest.  Their self-effacing manner
appears to go very well with the acute Jovian superiority complex, at least
at first...

If there is a story more specifically related to "Victory Unintentional", I
don't know what it might be.

There is another story in "The Complete Robot" called "Satisfaction
Guaranteed", but it has nothing to do with Jupiter.

I recall a story title "Solution Unsatisfactory", but I can't seem to find
it tonight.  I think that that one had a related story.  Anyone know this
one?

						-- Spencer

    re:.2
    
    There is another Jupiter story by Asimov that's directly related
    to "Victory Unintentional", but the title escapes me at the moment.
    
    "Solution Unsatisfactory" is a totally unrelated story, and was
    written by Heinlein.
    
    --- jerry

    Re. the precursor to "Victory Unintentional":
    
    The precursor to this story was about humans on one of Jupiter's moons
    (Ganymede?), who are attempting to construct a force field which will
    prevent a spacecraft from being crushed by the planet's atmosphere. In
    this story, they had received communications from intelligent life on
    the surface of Jupiter, which cuts off communication as soon as it
    discovers that the humans are not from Jupiter.
    
    The title "Not Final!" comes to mind, but I am not certain if this is
    the correct one for this story.
    
    Dave Hazel

    re:.4
    
    Yes, "Not Final" is the title.
    
    --- jerry

    Yes, "Not Final!" is the title.  The chief humans on the scene
    are satisfied that the aliens can NOT use force fields to make
    space ship hulls, thus are not a threat....   and "that's final!"
    
    I once wrote to Asimov.... back in 1969, when I was attending 
    Boston University.  Asimov was still listed as a Chemistry
    professor at Boston U., but NOT as teaching any classes...
    I wrote a short letter, asking why this was so.  Almost as
    an afterthought, I asked about "Victory Unintentional" and
    "Not Final!".... why was "Not Final!" left out of story 
    collections carrying "Unintentional"??
    
    The reply covered most the postcard.  The stories were written
    in the logical order, but "Not Final", having no robots IN
    the story, was left out of "robot" story collections.  The
    Boston U. job, he said "I keep as a sinecure."  (I had to
    look it up... "a well-paying job involving little or no work".)
    
    I have forgotten (I have it somewhere in my card file...) what
    the story collection's title was, but I recall it was NOT by
    Asimov, and it was NOT a well-known collection.  It seems that
    (back then, at least) if it wasn't about robots, it wasn't
    wanted in most books...
    
    				- Ed B. -

    Re. .6:
    
    I seem to remember reading one of Asimov's little semi-biographical
    notes, in one of his collections of short stories, in which he
    recounted the story of how he came to leave his university post, while
    retaining his academic title and salary. I believe it was over a
    disagreement with one of his superiors there, who did not like his
    involvement with SF writing.
    
    Dave Hazel

    I thought that he kept the position, but not the salary.
    
    			-John Bishop

_The Rest of the Robots_ was a collection.  It appears in earlier anthologies,
and I suspect (without checking) it first appeared in the old _Astounding_.

Steve Kallis, Jr.

    There also was a paperback anthology of Asimov robot stories called
    _The Rest of the Robots_.  I remember it very well for one simple
    reason:
    
    
    		It was the first book _I_ ever bought.  
    
    
    
    I must have been seven years old or so at the time.  Sometimes I 
    believe it affected me later in life....
    
    	-Bill Yerazunis, Artificial Intelligence Technology Center.
    
	
    p.s.  The second book I ever bought was "Starship Troopers"... maybe
    that one affected me too?