To shorten this dark age, he created two foundations at opposite ends of the galaxy, each foundation designed to keep scientific knowledge alive. Using psychohistory, Seldon foresees the fall of the galactic empire and a dark age lasting thirty thousand years before a second great empire arises. The larger the mass (in this case, galactic populations), the more predictable the future. The behaviour of a mass of people is predictable if the quantity of this mass is very large. The original Foundation novels, Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation, tell the story of Hari Seldon, a scientist who has figured out how to predict the future based on a branch of mathematics he developed called psychohistory.

Asimov’s Foundation seriesĪs a science fiction writer, his most famous creations were his Foundation and Robot novels. HIV was not revealed as the cause of his death until 2002, when his widow Janet published the memoir “It’s Been a Good Life”. “It was the worst ten minutes of his life.”Īsimov died of heart and kidney failure in 1992, complications of a HIV infection he contracted from a transfusion of tainted blood during a triple-bypass operation in 1983. “Isaac Asimov had writer’s block once,” fellow science fiction writer Harlan Ellison said, referring to Asimov’s impressive output. He had a gift for explaining complex science subjects in clear and understandable language and was once given the nickname “The Great Explainer”. He was a long-time member and Vice President of Mensa International and president of the American Humanist Association. During his life he wrote 500 books, both science fiction and nonfiction, along with countless short stories, essays, articles, papers, and letters. One of the most prolific writers of general science and science fiction, Isaac Asimov was born Isaak Yudovick Ozimov in Petrovichi, Russia in 1920, and was brought to the US at the age of three.Īn American science fiction author extraordinaire, professor and teacher of biochemistry at Boston University, outspoken humanist and rationalist, Asimov is considered one of the masters of science fiction (along with the likes of Arthur C. If you appreciate science fiction and have never heard of Isaac Asimov, you’ve probably been hiding in a cave or perhaps living in an alternate universe.

Isaac Asimov’s own recommended reading order for the Foundation, Robot and galactic empire novels.

Movie and TV adaptations of Asimov’s novels.

Writing style and themes in Asimov’s work.

I robot short stories isaac asimov