100 years ago, Isaac Asimov was born: was one of the writers who brought science fiction out of its niche market and a great scientific popularizer with many articles and essays.



His legacy is estimated in about 500 books of various genres [2].

Isaac Asimov was born in the village of Petrovichi, Russia, approximately between October 4, 1919 and January 2, 1920: his real birth date is unknown, and the latter date was adopted as his birthday.

In early 1923 the Asimov family emigrated to the USA, in New York, where Isaac discovered science fiction thanks to the magazines sold in the father's shop.

Asimov graduated in chemistry at Columbia University in 1939, then completes a master’s degree in 1941 and a doctorate in 1948: his writing career began in 1939, with the publication of the short story “Marooned off Vesta[1] in the magazine “Amazing Stories”.

He soon became famous thanks to the first stories about positronic robots, followed by the ones that formed the Foundation Trilogy.
In addition to the Foundation novels, he expands the Robot Cycle and the Empire Cycle novels and, in the 1980s, he started unifying the various cycles to include them in one great future history.

As humanist and rationalist atheist, he brought many of his ideas into his literary works, becoming one of the first great authors of hard science fiction, gaining a fame that spread worldwide.

Beside science fiction, Isaac Asimov also wrote scientific articles and history books.

Thanks for all, Dr. Asimov!


References

  1. Marooned off Vesta by Isaac Asimov - Amazing Stories
  2. A Catalogue of Isaac Asimov's Books