Author Spotlight: Isaac Asimov
- LC
- Apr 20
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 30
If you’re a fan of science fiction or robots, then you’ve surely heard of Isaac Asimov. Though born in Russia, Isaac Asimov is widely recognized as an American author, and is often called the father of science fiction. Along with Robert A. Heinlen and Arthur C. Clarke, Asimov was considered one of science fiction's "Big Three" writers. In his lifetime, he published nearly five hundred books, and helped shape sci-fi into the genre we know and love today.
Asimov's Foundation series helped lay the foundations (pun intended) for science fiction itself. Foundation initially began as a series of interconnected short stories and novellas published from 1942 to 1950. These were eventually collated into three books known as the Foundation Trilogy, which includes Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952), and Second Foundation (1953). Set in the far future, during the last days of a Galactic Empire, the Foundation stories explore mathematics, psychohistory, and sociology, raising questions of earth and mankind's place and fate amidst the infinite expanse of space.
His Robot series is also considered one of the most pivotal works in the science fiction canon. In many ways, the Robot series, composed of thirty-seven short stories and six novels, birthed the genre's constantly expanding imagination and reimagination of robots and artificial intelligence. In this world, positronic robots serve key functions in human society. Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics were programmed into them, to prevent them from becoming dangerous. The laws are: " (1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; (2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; and (3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law."
The Robot series highlights themes of control, technology, sentience, and free will. One of the stories in the collection was "The Bicentennial Man," which became the basis for a later novel, The Positronic Man, and the popular ’90s film of the same name starring Robin Williams. The Robot series was eventually merged with points in the Foundation series, building one of the richest universes and "future histories" in science fiction.
In addition to countless short stories, novellas, and novels, Asimov also wrote nonfiction, coauthoring a college-level textbook called Biochemistry and Human Metabolism. As a professor of biocheistry at Boston University, he continued writing textbooks, science books, and other nonfiction until the 1970s. Some of his work in nonfiction included The Human Body (1963), Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (1969), and his autobiography titled In Memory Yet Green (1979).
Asimov also had a wide range of interests, which were reflected in the organizations and societies that he participated in. This included the Baker Street Irregulars, the leading Sherlock Holmes society; the Wolfe Pack, a fan group of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe mysteries, and the Trap Door Spiders, an all-male literary club. Asimov was also one of the signatories of the Humanist Manifesto, a founding member of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP, now the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry), and a “special science consultant” on Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Though he passed away in 1992 at age 72 from kidney and heart failure, Asimov is remembered as one of the greatest and most prolific science fiction writers of all time. His works remain milestones in the development of "hard" science fiction, highlighting the genre's ability to explore the existential and emotional questions that come with man's thirst for knowledge and technological advancement.
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