Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry, one of the most prolific authors of the twentieth century with roughly five hundred books to his name. [1] With Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke he was considered one of the defining figures of science fiction's golden age, and he was equally well known as a popular explainer of science, history and literature to general readers. [2]
Early life and education
Asimov was born on 2 January 1920 in Petrovichi, in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic; his family could not fix the date precisely and he adopted that day himself. [1] They emigrated to the United States in 1923 and settled in Brooklyn, where his parents ran a succession of candy stores that sold pulp magazines, giving him early access to the science fiction of the period.
At Columbia University he took a degree in chemistry in 1939, a master's in 1941, and, after war work as a civilian chemist at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and service in the army, a doctorate in biochemistry in 1948. He joined the faculty of the Boston University School of Medicine, eventually holding the title of professor of biochemistry while writing full time. [2]
Science fiction
Asimov sold his first story to Amazing Stories in 1938 and became a regular contributor to Astounding Science Fiction under its editor John W. Campbell. "Nightfall" (1941), about a world that experiences darkness once every two millennia, was long voted the best science fiction short story ever written. [1]
His robot stories, collected as I, Robot (1950), introduced the Three Laws of Robotics, which state in order that a robot may not harm a human being or through inaction allow harm, must obey human orders except where they conflict with the first law, and must protect its own existence except where that conflicts with the first two. [3]
The Foundation stories, begun in 1942 and later collected as a trilogy, describe the collapse of a galactic empire and the attempt to shorten the ensuing dark age using a predictive social science called psychohistory. The series received a special Hugo Award as the best all-time series, and Asimov returned to it decades later with Foundation's Edge (1982), linking it to his robot novels. [3]
Other major works include the detective novel The Caves of Steel, its sequels, and The Gods Themselves (1972), which won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards. [1]
Non-fiction
From the late 1950s Asimov devoted most of his time to non-fiction, writing on chemistry, physics, astronomy, biology, mathematics, history, mythology and the Bible, along with annotated guides to Shakespeare. He contributed a monthly science column to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction for more than three decades. [2]
His books were widely used in schools and libraries. He served as president of the American Humanist Association. [1]
Death and legacy
Asimov died in Manhattan on 6 April 1992 of heart and kidney failure. The underlying cause was an HIV infection contracted from a blood transfusion during heart bypass surgery in 1983, a fact his family made public ten years after his death. [1]
He was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. The Three Laws of Robotics remain a standard reference point in discussions of machine ethics, and the magazine founded in his name continues publication. [2]
