Isaac Asimov
By Logan Wright
If science fiction was all about science then it would be difficult to find a better representative for it than Isaac Asimov. Possibly the most prolific writer ever (counts range from 400 to well over 500), Asimov wrote not only science fiction but fiction of other genres and non-fiction covering a staggering range of topics. His non-fiction books can be found in all Dewey Decimal categories save for philosophy and are a treat for their succinct and informal style. Science fiction however, is about more than just science. Fortunately, Asimov’s science fiction more than satisfies all the requirements for excellent sci-fi. Asimov’s novels are widely acclaimed and feature not only intriguing scientific speculation and ideas but deceptively engaging plots and characters. Veterans of science fiction will notice that Asimov was not a story architect, but an engineer. With his direct and frill-free writing style, his stories are simply effective and impacting.
His Foundation series is the most popular series of science fiction novels bar none. The novels document the perils and triumphs of a fictional society created by a mastermind mathematician. In Nightfall, Asimov’s cast of university scientists learn of an approaching eclipse that spells disaster for the inhabitants of their normally fully-illuminated planet. His Robot series is well-known and loved not only in the science fiction community, but in the world of robotics. The Three Laws of Robotics govern the behavior of the robots in these stories and novels and are currently being implemented into robotics of the future.
If the greatest science fiction writers were books on a shelf, Isaac Asimov would be a book that writes excellent science fiction and non-fiction science. Okay, so maybe that analogy is burgeoning on fantasy. Still, it’s difficult to pick one book that Asimov would be but it would certainly be one you’d want to read.
A top title from Asimov:
Isaac Asimov, (1994), Foundation, Collins, ISBN: 0586010807.
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