"With Folded Hands " is a 1947 science fiction novelette by Jack Williamson . Willamson's influence for this story was in the aftermath of World War II and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and his concern that "some of the technological creations we had developed with the best intentions might have disastrous consequences in the long run." The novelette, which first appeared in the July 1947 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It was the first of several Astounding stories adapted for NBC's radio series Dimension X. The story was followed by a novel-length rewrite, with a... different setting and inventor. This was serialized as ...And Searching Mind and finally published as The Humanoids . Williamson followed with a sequel, The Humanoid Touch, published in 1980. Underhill, a seller of "Mechanicals" in the small town of Two Rivers, is startled to find a competitor's store on his way home. The competitors are not humans but are small, black robots who appear more advanced than anything Underhill has encountered before. They describe themselves as "Humanoids.
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