Who is Isaac Asimov?

[@CerebrumMortum]

My late big brother bought me a copy of "I, Robot" when I was 15. He died a year later. That book blee my mind open, and it was the first in me becoming a hardcore scifi fan. Assimov is the writer I read the most. I've even read a lot of his non-fiction

[@greyareaRK1]

He is my favourite Golden Age author. Great interviews too, with many famous quotes and a splendid sense of humour. Two of his more famous quotes: “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always 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.” ― Isaac Asimov “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.” ― Isaac Asimov

[@blackholeentry3489]

I once took a cruise ship (1980...I think) from NYC to Bermuda. Asimov was a guest and the key speaker on this trip. This trip was designed for people to be posistioned under dark skies so they could do some serious astronomy observing, which was impossible in NYC. When we arrived, I was surprised to see the telescope to be used....A Coulter Odyssy 13"...identical to mine. A line was formed...the first object we viewed was Saturn. Asimov's wife brazenly pushed her way to the front of the line, took the very first look, and then surprisedly exclaimed, "Why, it got a ring around it!" Yeah, lady...widely known worldover for about 400 years! Much later, one of the solo women of the group confided in me...."He's an ass-pincher!" While I certainly liked Asimov (His "Nightfall" is an all time classic) I also like Robert Sheckly, Arther C Clarke, and a host of others.....Including the guy who once made the statement.... "Noone can make any money writing Sci/Fy for a penny a word....If you want to make some REAL money, create a religion....and did...Scientology. One of his 1st stories, "FarCentaurus", started out.... "Man is small, space is deep, and time is his relentless enemy!" A story of man's first trip to Alpha Centauri, where people were born en route, lived thier entire lives aboard the ship, and then died. After about 600 years, they finally do arrive, only to find a welcoming comittee awaiting them....seems time had vastly improved space travel, with FTL drive becoming a reality. BHE

[@damnhandy]

I once sat next to Asimov and Hal Clement at a sci-fi convention in DC, in the seventies. We were watching a silly movie about a boy and his dog that Harlin Ellison was reviewing. Had much respect for Asimov and Clement; Ellison not so much.

[@JudoGeoff]

That's pretty wild. I wonder if Asimov was a fan of ol' Blood and Vic (or Fuzzy Butt and Al, as some might prefer).

[@Sci-FiOdyssey]

Amazing!!!🤩

[@chrisvickers7928]

I'm jealous. he was my favourite writer growing up but I never travelled to the east coast to conventions and he was notoriously travel averse. I did see Decamp 3 times at conventions in Calgary. He was amazingly generous with fans spending hours in the con suite answering questions and telling stories. I even got my first fandom dad to come out from Victoria to one of them. Decamp was his favourite author.

[@douglasdea637]

I've read that Ellison is something of a blowhard. It's not just that he considers himself the best sci-fi writer ever, he considers most others to be shit. So I've read.

[@RydarkVoyager]

I had the pleasure of meeting Isaac Asimov when he came up to visit Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute while I was a student (1973-77; I don't remember the exact year). He was there as part of a series of lectures by sci-fi authors (including Frederik Pohl and Harlan Ellison; not all together, that would've been awesome) sponsored by the Student Union. I was already a fan since high school, and had read the Foundation Trilogy. Asimov was engaging, told a string of fun stories, and answered audience questions, and was a hit that night.

[@blackholeentry3489]

Sounds just like the Asimov I met while on a cruise ship to Bermuda in 1980. Surprising fact; Although Asimov penned so many stories about 'cruising' all over the galaxy and/or beyond in FTL vehicles, he himself, had an innate fear of flying, taking the train, ship or whatever else was available.

[@holydissolution85]

I can't remember whose interview it was, but he was a friend of Asimov's , also a SF writer... He said that many authors hava a good sense of humor, but Isaak was by far funniest of them all. You could never tell it from his interviews and writings but he was hilarious IRL...

[@douglasdea637]

Always loved Asimov. I remember growing up in the 70s and 80s and reading his Foundation and Robot novels was considered an accomplishment, a turning point in my reading career. His short story collections are among the best. I've also read his companion book to the Bible which explains well what is going on in those stories. While Asimov is listed among the Big 3 "grand masters" of science fiction, I think of them as being 4, with Fred Pohl as the 4th. Pohl and Asimov knew each other when they were kids growing up in New York. They were founding members of the New York sci-fi club "The Futurians." (Pohl's autobiography, The Way the Future Was, is an excellent book.)

[@julietcunningham852]

My parents subscribed to FSF from the first issue until their deaths. I loved Asimov's science articles, and still recommend them, as they are understandable by any twelve year old who takes the trouble. My favorite story of his was "The Up-toDate Sorcerer", an alternative solution to the plot problem in the early Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, "The Sorcerer". I think I was about ten at the time. In 1971, Harvard G&S hired me to direct the operetta, and, with the Good Doctor's permission, I staged it with his ending.

[@NoSTs123]

I have never read foundation but all of his robot short stories.

[@vilstef6988]

Your little author bio videos are well done and enjoyable. I've been an Asimov fan since I read one of his stories in Boy's Life in the mid 60s.

[@kulwinderkuls8560]

Thank you for this video. 10/10

[@bukurie6861]

Isaac Asimov a american author.And is one of "three to begest"to thrillimes scientist together with Robert A.Heinkin and Arthur C . Clarke.😍🌏🔥Famous Author

[@Pduarte79]

Would be cool if "Second foundation" was made into a series or trilogy.

[@abbofun9022]

Asimov was weak on character and inter-personal developments but boy his vistas and sheer scale of story telling fully compensated. Been a fan since 1970’s and am very happy with the way the foundation series has turned out on Apple+, can’t wait for season 2.

[@thomasciarlariello3228]

Asimov's stories published in "Astounding" were filmed as "Star Wars".

[@onefodderunit]

Outerspace itself along with any area absent of matter is science fiction

[@DavidGreen_au]

When I read the "Lucky Star" novels (a very *long* time ago), they were published under his own name, and I remember some of them having a forward/apology for the inaccuracies due to authorship preceding actual surveys confirming planetary conditions. I couldn't agree more with Asimov's sentiment about SF not being a genre. Whenever I am confronted with SF labelled as a genre, I've always pushed back that its a "setting".

[@berengerdietiker22]

I've never read Isaac Asimov's work, but if Wikipedia's anything to go by, Asimov's writing style's my type.

[@iainreed9424]

The author of my childhood. RIP.

[@michaelvcelentano]

Aw, you missed the best part! He was also a huge fan of Gilbert and Sullivan; so much so that he published an annotated complete libretto of the G&S operettas. The former head of Amore Opera in NYC, Nathan Hull, was a good friend of his because Asimov was the president of the New York G&S Society and Nathan was an active member then.

[@MagnumInnominandum]

I read literally 3 dozen plus Asimov books before I ever read His fiction. 🙃

[@lanebowles8170]

I read the "Lucky Star" series and it is an unknown branch to his "Robots" series as both positronic robots and Spacers do make appearances in some of the books, though the series really isn't about them. The sense that I got was that the "Lucky Star" series takes place after the Spacer worlds gain their independence from Earth but before Earth is defeated by the Spacer worlds and the bulk of humanity is restricted to the home solar system. Earth doesn't seem to have the underground cities from "The Caves of Steel" and Earth's military is eager to confront the Spacers with no indication of previous defeat. The Spacers themselves don't seem to have a neurosis about Earthmen diseases and are willing to invite 'superior' Earthmen to immigrate and join them.

[@prasoonjha1816]

Well, Positronic robots do make appearances in many Asimov stories not set in the Foundation Universe.

[@PhilAMurray]

I’ve read the whole foundation series and while the overall concept is really interesting the implementation is very much of its time. The characters are wafer thin and the characterisation of women through the series is shocking in the modern age. I can’t critique too harshly as they were written so long ago. Ultimately disappointing bit conceptually interesting.

[@mark4d148]

Nice.

[@stephensciuto7251]

08-02-23 Sifi writter's have it publised in SIFI..so if it becomes fact in the science mommunity any time in the furture,they can prove,they said it first,and have all rights to all facts.