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Publication Order of Robot Books
Publication Order of Galactic Empire Books
Chronological Order of Galactic Empire Books
Publication Order of Foundation Books
Chronological Order of Foundation Books
Publication Order of Lucky Starr Books
as Paul FrenchPublication Order of Black Widowers Collections
Publication Order of Norby Books
with Janet AsimovPublication Order of Standalone Novels
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
Publication Order of Children's Books
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
The Chemicals of Life | (1954) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Is Anyone There? | (1956) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Inside The Atom | (1956) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Building Blocks of the Universe | (1957) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Only a Trillion / Marvels of Science | (1957) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The World of Nitrogen | (1958) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Fact and Fancy | (1958) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Worlds Within Worlds | (1958) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The World of Carbon | (1958) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Clock We Live On | (1959) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Words of Science and The History Behind Them | (1959) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Realm of Numbers | (1959) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Satellites in Outer Space | (1960) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Wellsprings of Life | (1960) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Double Planet | (1960) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's New Guide to Science | (1960) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Words from the Myths | (1961) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Realm of Algebra | (1961) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Bloodstream | (1961) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Genetic Code | (1962) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Search for the Elements | (1962) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Words on the Map | (1962) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Human Brain | (1963) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Human Body | (1963) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Words from the Exodus | (1963) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
View from a Height | (1963) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Adding a Dimension | (1964) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology | (1964) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Short History of Biology | (1964) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Quick and Easy Math | (1964) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Of Time, Space, and Other Things | (1965) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Short History of Chemistry | (1965) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
An Easy Introduction to the Slide Rule | (1965) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
From Earth to Heaven | (1965) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Understanding Physics | (1966) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Universe From Flat Earth to Quasar | (1966) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Noble Gases | (1966) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's Guide to the Bible | (1967) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Environments Out There | (1967) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Chemicals of Life | (1967) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Science, Numbers, And I | (1968) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Words from History. | (1968) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Understanding Physics Light Magnetism and Electricity | (1969) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Understanding Physics the Electron Proton and Neutron | (1969) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Neutrino | (1969) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
ABC's of space | (1969) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Opus 100 | (1969) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Light | (1970) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Space Dictionary | (1970) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Photosynthesis | (1970) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Stars In Their Courses | (1971) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
ABC's of the Ocean | (1971) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Sensuous Dirty Old Man | (1971) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
ABC's of the Earth | (1971) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
What Makes the Sun Shine? | (1971) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Left Hand of the Electron | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
More Words of Science | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Physical Sciences | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Biological Sciences | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Solar System and Back | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
ABC's of Ecology | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's Guide to Science | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Tragedy of the Moon | (1973) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Today and Tomorrow and ... | (1973) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Please Explain | (1973) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Jupiter, the Largest Planet | (1973) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Towards Tomorrow | (1974) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov on Astronomy | (1974) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov on Chemistry | (1974) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Of Matters Great and Small | (1975) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Science Past, Science Future | (1975) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Eyes on the Universe | (1975) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Solar System | (1975) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Planet That Wasn't | (1976) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov on Physics | (1976) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Life and Energy | (1976) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Alpha Centauri, The Nearest Star | (1976) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Exploding Suns | (1977) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Tyrannosaurus Prescription and 100 Other Essays | (1977) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Collapsing Universe | (1977) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Quasar, Quasar, Burning Bright | (1978) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Life and Time | (1978) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov on Numbers | (1978) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Extraterrestrial Civilizations | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Intelligent Man's Guide to the Physical Sciences | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Choice of Catastrophes | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Jupiter | (1980) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
About Black Holes | (1980) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Subatomic Monster | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Change! | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Would You Believe? | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Book of Facts, Volume 2 | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov on Science Fiction | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Venus, Near Neighbor of the Sun | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Road to Infinity | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
In the Beginning | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Exploring The Earth And The Cosmos | (1982) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Sun Shines Bright | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Counting the Eons | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Roving Mind | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
X Stands for Unknown | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Measure of the Universe | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The History of Physics | (1984) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's Guide to Halley's Comet | (1985) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov on the Human Body and the Human Brain | (1985) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Living In the Future | (1985) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Dangers of Intelligence and Other Science Essays | (1986) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Beginnings | (1987) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Far as Human Eye Could See | (1987) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Beyond the Stars | (1987) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Relativity of Wrong | (1988) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's Galaxy | (1988) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Guide to Earth and Space | (1988) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's Chronology of the World | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Jupiter, the Spotted Giant | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov on Science | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Little Library of Dinosaurs | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Out of the Everywhere | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Projects in Astronomy | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
March of the Millennia | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Atom | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Star Cycles | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Wall Chart of Science and Invention | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Why Do Stars Twinkle? | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Why Does The Moon Change Shape? | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
What is an Eclipse? | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Henry Hudson | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Christopher Columbus | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Our Angry Earth | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Why Does Litter Cause Problems? | (1992) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Secret of the Universe | (1992) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
How is Paper Made? | (1992) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
How Do Big Ships Float? | (1992) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Why Do We Need to Brush Our Teeth? | (1993) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
My First Book of Animals From A to Z | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Our Planetary System | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's The Rocky Planets | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Yours, Isaac Asimov | (1995) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Facts and Trivia | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Moon | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Realm of Measure | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Space Junk | (2005) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Astronomy Projects | (2005) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
How to Save the Planet | (2017) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Realm of Algebra | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of The Hugo Winners Books
with Martin GreenbergThe Hugo Winners, Vol. 1 & 2: 1955-1972 | (1962) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Hugo Winners, 1955-1961 | (1962) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Stories from The Hugo Winners, 1962-1967 | (1971) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Hugo Winners, 1968-1970 | (1973) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
More Stories from the Hugo Winners, Vol. 2 | (1973) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Hugo Winners, Vol. 3: 1971-1975 | (1977) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Hugo Winners: The Best of the Best Science Fiction, 1973 | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Hugo Winners, Vol. 4 | (1985) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Hugo Winners, Vol. 5 | (1986) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The New Hugo Winners, 1983-1985 | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The New Hugo Winners, Vol. 2: 1986-1988 | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Super Hugos | (1992) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Historia Universal Asimov Non-Fiction Books
Publication Order of How Did We Find Out Non-Fiction Books
Publication Order of's Library Of The Universe Non-Fiction Books
Publication Order of's New Library Of The Universe Non-Fiction Books
Publication Order of Isaac Asimov Humourous Books
Publication Order of Before The Golden Age Books
Publication Order of Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories Books
with Martin GreenbergPublication Order of Autobiography Of Non-Fiction Books
Publication Order of Isaac Asimov's Wonderful Worlds Of Science Fiction Books
with Martin Greenberg, Robert Silverberg, Charles G. WaughPublication Order of Asimov's The Mammoth Book Of...Books
with Martin GreenbergPublication Order of Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds Of Fantasy Books
with Martin Greenberg, Charles G. WaughPublication Order of Isaac Asimov Presents The Golden Years Of Science Fiction Books
Publication Order of Isaac's Universe Books
with Martin Greenberg, Janet Asimov, Hal ClementPublication Order of Isaac Asimov's Anthology Books
Publication Order of Ask Non-Fiction Books
Publication Order of 100 Stories Books
Publication Order of Young... Anthologies
with Martin Greenberg, Charles G. WaughPublication Order of Stellar Books
Publication Order of Star Science Fiction Books
with Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Frederik Pohl, Jack Vance, Richard Matheson, Philip K. Dick, Lester del Rey, Jack WilliamsonPublication Order of New Writings in SF Anthology Books
Publication Order of Nebula Awards Books
Publication Order of Anthologies
Famous Science-Fiction Stories: Adventures in Time and Space | (1946) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Star Science Fiction Stories 3 | (1955) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Astounding Science Fiction, November 1956 | (1956) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Hugo Winners | (1962) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
50 Short Science Fiction Tales | (1963) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Connoisseur's Science Fiction | (1964) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Five-Odd / Possible Tomorrows | (1964) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
If This Goes On | (1965) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Tomorrow's Children | (1966) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1966 | (1966) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Dangerous Visions | (1967) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Time Untamed | (1967) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Backdrop of Stars | (1968) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction | (1970) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Where Do We Go from Here? | (1971) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Beyond Control | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow... | (1974) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Wondermakers 2 | (1974) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Final Stage: The Ultimate Science Fiction Anthology | (1974) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Decade: The 1940's | (1975) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Stellar #2 | (1976) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Beyond Tomorrow | (1976) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Study War No More | (1977) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Extraterrestrials and Eclipses | (1978) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Book of Ellison | (1978) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Marvels of Science Fiction | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Science Fictional Solar System | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Treasury | (1980) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Seven Deadly Sins of Science Fiction | (1980) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
More Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Outstanding Stories of Jewish Fantasy and Science Fiction | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
100 Malicious Little Mysteries | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Future I | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Last Man on Earth | (1982) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Tantalizing Locked Room Mysteries | (1982) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 24 | (1982) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Alfred Hitchcock's Your Share of Fear | (1982) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Mutants | (1982) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Dragon Tales | (1982) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Science Fiction A to Z | (1982) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Hallucination Orbit | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Starships | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Creations - the Quest for Origins in Story and Science | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Machines That Think | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Science Fiction Weight Loss Book | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The First Omni Book of Science Fiction | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Caught in the Organ Draft | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Aliens & Outworlders | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
13 Horrors of Halloween | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Young Mutants | (1984) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Mammoth Book of Short Science Fiction Novels | (1984) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories | (1984) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Election Day 2084 | (1984) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Great Science Fiction Stories by the World's Greatest Scientists | (1985) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Young Monsters | (1985) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Amazing Stories | (1985) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, September 1985 | (1985) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1985 | (1985) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, August 1986 | (1986) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, October 1986 | (1986) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Extraterrestrials | (1986) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Twelve Frights of Christmas | (1986) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Dark Void | (1987) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Young Witches and Warlocks | (1987) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, July 1987 | (1987) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Battlefields Beyond Tomorrow | (1987) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Encounters | (1988) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Great Tales of Classic Science Fiction | (1988) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Purr-Fect Crime | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The New Hugo Winners, 1983-1985 | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, February 1989 | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Tales of the Occult | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Beastly Tales | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, September 1989 | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Visions of Fantasy | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1989 | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 1989 | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, February 1990 | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Cosmic Critiques | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, July 1990 | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, August 1990 | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Christmas on Ganymede and Other Stories | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, December 1990 | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Tomorrow's Voices | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Ultimate Frankenstein | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1991 | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, April 1991 | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October/November 1991 | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Once Upon a Time | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Power | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Mid-December 1991 | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, April 1992 | (1992) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Inside the Funhouse | (1992) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's Science Fiction, April 1993 | (1993) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Fantasy Stories | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, April 1994 | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 1994 | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Time Machines | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov's Werewolves | (1999) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The World Turned Upside Down | (2005) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Asimov's Science Fiction, April/May 2007 | (2007) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Science Fiction Gems, Vol. One | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Bug-Eyed Monsters & Bimbos | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
One and Wonder | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Fantastic Stories Presents | (2014) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Misbegotten Missionary | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Isaac Asimov, or Isaak Yudovich Ozimov (birth name) was a famous American science-fiction writer, with Russian origins. A prolific author and a professor of biochemistry at the university of Boston. With a bibliography of more than 500 popular science books, Asimov had yet to be considered one of the “Big Three” Sci-Fi writers at his time, along with Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein. He is best known worldwidely for his “Foundation” series, “I, Robot” series, and the “Galactic Empire” series.
Asimov also wrote many fantasy and mystery stories, alongside with short stories and books on other subject than science fiction, especially astronomy, society, biology; and religion.
Asimov was an atheist and a humanist as he opposed to superstitious beliefs and railed against pseudoscientific claims. Despite the fact that his parents were orthodox Jewish, they never forced their beliefs upon him.
His early life:
Isaac Asimov was born circa October 4, 1919- January 2, 1920 in Petrovichi shtetl near Klimovichi (now Smolensk) in Russia to an Orthodox Jewish family of millers. His father was Judah Ozimov and his mother Anna Rachel Ozimov (born Berman). He had a younger sister “Marcia” and a younger brother “Stanly”.
As Isaac was merely three years old, the Ozimov family migrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn, New York, and changed their family name to become Asimov. At the age of eight, Isaac became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Isaac taught himself how to read at the age of five, and spoke both English and Yiddish fluently, and since his parents didn’t use Russian to speak to him, he never learnt it. He became an avid reader as soon as he could read, and started writing his own stories around the age of 11. He also used to help his father with his candy shops as a youngster, taking advantage of this occupation to read science fiction pulp magazines at their stores. As he was 19, he began selling science fiction stories to magazines.
He integrated the New York Public School in 1925. In 1935, he graduated from boys High school of his own neighborhood, then moved to continue his studies at Seth Low Junior college, Colombia University earning his Bachelor of Science in 1939 at University Extension after his college had been closed in 1938. He applied to Columbia’s graduate chemistry program after his failure to secure his access to medical school and got his MA and PhD in biochemistry from the same institution in 1941 and 1948 accordingly.
From 1942 to 1945, Asimov worked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard Station as a chemist, and lived in an apartment in West Philadelphia with his first wife Gertrude Blugerman whom he married on July 26, 1942 after he met her on a Valentine’s Day blind date in the same year. Then he served in the U.S. Army after the end of the Second World War for nine months rising to the rank of Corporal in a short period before being honorably discharged, avoiding narrowly a possible participation in testing the atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll in 1946.
In 1949, Asimov moved to live in Boston alongside with his wife and had two children: David, and Robyn Joan.
After achieving his doctorate degree, Asimov started a teaching career at the Boston University’s Medical School as an assistant professor of biochemistry in 1951 then an associate professor four years later. However, in 1958 he became a full-time writer as the income he gained from his writings had exceeded his professor’s salary. In 1979, he was promoted to a full professor, and he gave few occasional lectures and became one of the best Boston University’s lecturers.
In 1970, Asimov and his first wife separated, and he moved to live in Manhattan, New York where he met Janet O. Jeppson and married her after his divorce in 1973 and lived there with her till his death on April 6, 1992 at the age of 72 from a heart and kidney failure after dealing secretly and privately with an AIDS infection which he contracted from a blood transfusion.
A selection of his works:
Asimov started writing at a very early age. He was fascinated with science fiction magazines which inspired him lots of ideas as he wrote eight chapters of fiction story at merely the age of 11. In 1938, Asimov completed his first science fiction story “Cosmic Corkscrew”. A year later, he managed a first publication of his story “Marooned Off Vesta” in Amazing Stories magazine.
In 1941, Asimov became famous for his short story “Nightfall” which was voted best science fiction short story of all times by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1968. This story describes the Lagash Planet where night falls once every 2049 years because of a complex solar system with six stars. As this unique “Nightfall” occurs, people will go mad because they have never seen stars before, and their civilization will collapse. This is why Aton will team up with other members of the Sara Observatory to construct a hideout and prepare to safe their civilization from the engulfing darkness.
In 1950, he published his first science-fiction novel entitled “Pebble” and a year later he released the first book in his trilogy “Foundation Trilogy: Foundation” followed by the other two books of the series “Foundation and Empire” and finally “Second Foundation” which were extended many years later by other books under the pressure of his fans to complete the series, and thus appeared “Foundation’s Edge” in 1982, “Foundation and Earth” in 1986, then “Prelude to Foundation” in 1988 and “Forward the Foundation” in 1992. This series narrated the story of the collapse and the rebirth of a galactic empire in a future universe.
Another brilliant work of Asimov is the “I, Robot” series, which he started collecting them from his Positronic Robot stories in 1950 where appeared his famous Three Laws of Robotics which became later a basic rule in programming our modern machines. This piece of work revolutionized the science fiction writing world, and inspired many other authors.
Asimov also wrote another short story about robots “The Bicentennial Man” which was expended later with the collaboration of Robert Silverberg into a novel “The Positronic Man”.
In the late 50s and 60s, Asimov turned to writing adult novels, and published four of them, “The Naked Sun” was one of them, published in 1957. He also wrote many social and scientific essays such as “Science: Knock Plastic” in 1967 and “Thinking About Thinking”.
At the same period, Asimov wrote about the bible and forwarded his “Asimov’s Guide To The Bible” in two volumes covering both the old and the new testament.
He was also interested in literature, and wrote his “Asimov’s Guide To Shakespeare” in 1970, and “The Annotated Gulliver’s Travel” in 1980. Besides, he wrote 14 history books, such as “The Greeks: A great Adventure” in 1965 and “The Near East: 10,000 Years of History” in 1968.
As he approached to the end of his life, Asimov was involved in publishing a collection of limericks, most notably “Lecherous Limericks” in 1975 and “Sherlockian Limericks”.
In 1979, Asimov published his autobiography under the title of “In Memory Yet Green”, and another one “In Joy Still Felt” in 1980. Two years after his death, another autobiography “I. Asimov: A Memoir” was published, his widow wrote the epilogue.
Asimov’s writing had coined many terms into the English dictionary and the scientific community, such as Robotics, spome, psychohistory, and positronic. They also awarded him many Nebula and Hugo awards that exceeded a dozen annually, besides 14 honorary doctorate degrees from different universities.
Foundation:
The first book written by Asimov in his Foundation series.
Seldom tries to create the “Encyclopedia Galactica” in order to shrink 30 thousand years of turmoil that threaten to overcome the Empire into just one thousand years according to his psychohistory mathematical foreseeing.
The board allows Seldom to assemble the most intelligent minds to create his encyclopedia provided that all the Encyclopedists should leave Trantor, the capitol planet of the Empire, and be exiled to Terminus.
Using their intelligence, the Encyclopedists manage to save Terminus from the four powerful planets threatening their own, and develop a sophisticated technology that overcomes that of the Empire. With this technology, Terminus succeeds in adding more planets to the Foundation as their inhabitants become dependent on the newly developed technology.
Foundation and Empire:
The Foundation becomes a real threat to the Empire, the emperor intends to attack it, but withdraws as the psychohistory science tells him otherwise, and thus the Foundation wins.
At the mean while, another mutant conqueror surfaces, called the Mule. Using his ability to control the emotions of other people, he starts conquering planets by visiting them and influencing their inhabitants.
In order to stop him, Toran, Bayta Darell, Ebling Mis and a street clown called Magnifico set out in search of the Second Foundation. Bayta Darell kills Ebling Mis as he learns about the whereabouts of the Second Foundation so that he would not reveal its location to the mutant Mule but finds out that all the time, Magnifico had been the Mule, and that he played them into his plans to conquer both the Second Foundation and the original Foundations.
Cinematic adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s works:
Both of Asimov’s most famous series “Foundation” and “I, Robot” had been developed into films. The first being developed by New Line Cinema in 1998 who spent more than $1,5 to produce a film version inspired by the “Trilogy Foundation”. While the Robot series had been turned into a Will Smith starring film in 2004.
Also, his novel “The Positronic Man” was also adapted into a Robbin Williams starring movie in 1999.
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One Response to “Isaac Asimov”
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Thanks for a thorough listing of all of his works and acomplishments. I have a lot of reading to do.