Robot Visions is a collection of 18 short stories, and 16 essays, written by Isaac Asimov. The stories were originally published between 1940 and 1976. The essays were originally published between 1956 and 1974 (with a big gap in the middle somewhere).
I had not read any of Asimov’s work before I picked up this collection. I would recommend it as a good starting point for people who want a glimpse into Asimov’s robots (and the way humans interact with them).
It includes a story called Runaround which was published in 1942. This story is significant because it is the very first one in which Asimov specifically describes the Three Laws of Robotics. It is those laws that govern the behavior of all of his robots.