Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov is one of the best known science fiction writers of all time. In part that is probably due to the sheer volume of material which he wrote, but it is also due to the scale of his imaginative vision. Over the course of 50 years, Asimov wrote over 500 books, essays and short stories. He won four Hugo Awards and one Nebular Award along with countless other lesser known awards. Biography Isaac Asimov was more than simply a science fiction writer. A biochemist with a Ph.D. to his name, Asimov also wrote a number of popularized science books which explain many scientific concepts in a historical way. A long time member of Mensa (whom he described as intellectually combative), he was more proud of being president of the American Humanist Association. Born in Russia on January 2nd, 1920, Asimov grew up in the United States from the age of three. He began writing his own stories as early as age eleven and his career took off in earnest when in 1939 he published the short story Marooned Off Vesta in Amazing Stories. Asimov went to Columbia University, graduating in 1939 and going on to earn a Ph. D. in biochemistry in 1948. During the 40s he spent three years working at the naval Air Experimental Station at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. After the end of World War II he was drafted into the United States Army for nine months before receiving an honorable discharge. Asimov married Gertrude Blugerman on July 26, 1942 and subsequently they had two children together David in 1951 and Robyn Joan in 1955. After completing his doctorate, Asimov became a member of faculty at Boston University. In 1958 he became a full time writer, though he maintained an association with Boston in a non-teaching capacity. Isaac Asimov was a firm Humanist and rationalist. He respected what he saw as genuine religious conviction in others but was vocal in his opposition of what he believed to be superstitious or unfounded beliefs. A progressive on many issues, Asimov was a strong supporter of the Democratic Party and opposed the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Asimov and his first wife were divorced in 1973. He met his soon to be second wife Janet that same year. Asimov died on April 6th, 1992 in New York at the age of 72 as a result of AIDs contracted from a blood transfusion received during a heart bypass operation. He was survived by his second wife and his children by his first marriage.
Science Fiction Writing After the publication of his first short story Marooned Off Vesta in 1939, Asimov continued to contribute stories to science fiction magazines on a regular basis. By 1941 when he published the short story Nightfall (which has been described as the best science fiction short story ever written), he had published some 32 stories. In 1942 Asimov began to publish what is probably his defining series, the Foundation stories. The short stories were later collected as the Foundation Trilogy: Foundation (1951); Foundation and Empire (1952) and Second Foundation (1953). These stories which chronicle the collapse of an interstellar empire and it's rebirth through the Foundation are firmly aimed at the human condition (through the lens of Psychohistory) rather than gadgets. Psychohistory is a fictional science which posits that the course of history can be charted using mathematics to predict how large populations will react to situations. Around this time Asimov also began to write his Robot stories, which presented the Three laws of Robotics, a set of ethics for robots. Many of these stories were collected as I, Robot in 1950. The Three Laws of Robotics have become so ingrained in science fiction culture that it is not uncommon to see them referenced in the work of other writers. In 1977, Asimov lent his name to Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, penning an editorial for each issue.. The magazine continues, now bearing the name Asimov's Science Fiction. In 1982, Asimov returned to both the Foundation and Robot stories, tying them together with his books Foundation's Edge (1982) and Foundation and Earth (1986). Asimov then went on to write prequels to the Foundation stories with Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1992)