Isaac Asimov (/ˈaɪzɨk ˈæzɨmɒv/; born Isaak Yudovich Ozimov; circa January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was prolific and wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. His books have been published in 9 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification.Asimov is widely considered a master of hard science fiction and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, he was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers during his lifetime. Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series; his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series. The Galactic Empire novels are explicitly set in earlier history of the same fictional universe as the Foundation series. Later, beginning with Foundation's Edge, he linked this distant future to the Robot and Spacer stories, creating a unified "future history" for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson. He wrote hundreds of short stories, including the social science fiction "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America the best short science fiction story of all time. Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French.Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as much nonfiction. Most of his popular science books explain scientific concepts in a historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage. He often provides nationalities, birth dates, and death dates for the scientists he mentions, as well as etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Examples include Guide to Science, the three-volume set Understanding Physics, and Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery, as well as works on astronomy, mathematics, the Bible, William Shakespeare's writing, and chemistry.Asimov was a long-time member and vice president of Mensa International, albeit reluctantly; he described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs". He took more joy in being president of the American Humanist Association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, a crater on the planet Mars, a Brooklyn, New York elementary school, and a literary award are named in his honor.
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
2
To all my gentle readers who have treated me with love for over 30 years, I must say farewell. It has always been my ambition to die in harness with my head face down on a keyboard and my nose caught between two of the keys, but that's not the way it worked out. I have had a long and happy life and I have no complaints about the ending, thereof, and so farewell -- farewell.
3
I don't have a modest bone in my body.
4
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" [I found it!] but "That's funny . . . "
5
To insult someone we call him "bestial." For deliberate cruelty and nature, "human" might be the greater insult.
6
Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
7
There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere.
8
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.
9
Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn't look up. Well, maybe once.
10
If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I'd type a little faster.
11
I write for the same reason I breathe - because if I didn't, I would die.
12
[The Three Laws of Robotics, published 1950] One, a robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Two, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. Three, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
13
Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.
14
Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right.
15
Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.
16
If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.
17
I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.
18
Things do change. The only question is that since things are deteriorating so quickly, will society and man's habits change quickly enough?
19
Individual science-fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today - but the core of science fiction, its essence . . . has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.
20
Science-fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not.
21
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
22
When I sit down at the typewriter, I write. Someone once asked me if I had a fixed routine before I start, like setting up exercises, sharpening pencils, or having a drink of orange juice. I said, "No, the only thing I do before I start writing is to make sure that I'm close enough to the typewriter to reach the keys."
23
I type 90 words per minute on the typewriter; I type 100 words per minute on the word processor. But, of course, I don't keep that up indefinitely--every once in a while I do have to think a few seconds.
24
Intelligence is an extremely subtle concept. It's a kind of understanding that flourishes if it's combined with a good memory, but exists anyway even in the absence of good memory. It's the ability to draw consequences from causes, to make correct inferences, to foresee what might be the result, to work out logical problems, to be reasonable, rational, to have the ability to understand the solution from perhaps insufficient information. You know when a person is intelligent, but you can be easily fooled if you are not yourself intelligent.
25
It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly.
26
Someday they'll come and find me slumped over that electric typewriter with my nose in the keys.
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Fact
1
His Foundation series won the Hugo award for "Best all-time series" in 1966, beating J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
2
Attributed his ability to research and write about almost any subject to an ample memory. He could retain most of the things that he read or was told. He added however that his memory was not photographic, and he often had trouble with visual details.
3
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 3, 1991-1993, pages 35-37. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.
4
He was the first science-fiction writer to headline his own magazine.
5
Enjoyed a friendly rivalry with fellow science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.
6
8/21/70-8/23/70: Guest of Honor at Fan Fair II science-fiction convention in Toronto, Canada.
7
Received Nebula Awards for his novel "The Gods Themselves" and his novelette "The Bicentennial Man".
8
Received Hugo Awards for his novels "The Mule", "The Gods Themselves" and "Foundation's Edge" as well as for his novelettes "The Bicentennial Man" and "Gold". His memoirs "I. Asimov: A Memoir" also earned him a Hugo Award.
9
Was a member of Mensa.
10
Is famous for penning "The Three Laws of Robotics".
11
It has recently been admitted by Janet Jeppson Asimov, his wife, that Isaac acquired HIV during a bypass operation in 1983. He had kept it hidden at the behest of his doctors. It is believed that the primary cause of death wasn't AIDS, however, but kidney and heart failure.
12
He is the only author to have a published book in every Dewey Decimal library category apart from Philosophy.
13
He was afraid of air travel and generally disliked travel of any kind.
14
He enjoyed confined spaces and liked to work in windowless rooms.
15
He drank alcohol only occasionally.
16
He won the Hugo and Nebula awards and received many honorary doctorates.
17
He produced about 500 books as (co-)author or (co-)editor. No accurate count is available.
18
His brother Stan (1929-1995) was a journalist and rose to a vice-presidency at the Long Island newspaper "Newsday".
19
He had two children with Gertrude: David and Robyn.
20
When he entered school his mother gave his birthdate as 7 September 1919 so he could start a year earlier. He later insisted on correcting the record; had he not done so, he would have been considered too old when his turn for the draft came up in November 1945.
21
His family moved to the US in the last year that this was easy to do. If they had waited until the next year, they most likely would not have been allowed to leave.
22
He did not speak Russian.
23
No accurate records exist of his date of birth. He celebrated 2 January 1920, which was the latest possible date, but it might have been as early as 4 October 1919.
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
I, Robot 2
novel announced
Formul-e Marg
2012
TV Movie novel
I, Robot
2004
suggested by book
Nightfall
2000
Video story
Bicentennial Man
1999
novel "The Positronic Man" / short story "The Bicentennial Man"
The Android Affair
1995
TV Movie story
Isaac Asimov's Visions of the Future
1992
TV Movie documentary writer
Teach 109
1990
TV Short story
Feeling 109
1988
Short story
Robots
1988
Video novels "I, Robot" et al"
Nightfall
1988
story
Probe
TV Series creator - 1 episode, 1988 writer - 1 episode, 1988
Gandahar
1988
adaptation - American version
Konets vechnosti
1987
novel "The End of Eternity"
All the Troubles of the World
1978
Video short original story
The Ugly Little Boy
1977
TV Movie story
A halhatatlanság halála
1976
TV Movie novel
A History of Science Fiction from 1938
1971
Documentary short
Out of the Unknown
TV Series story - 3 episodes, 1965 - 1969 novel - 1 episode, 1969 story "Reason" - 1 episode, 1967 novella - 1 episode, 1965
$10 Million
