Foundation
created by Isaac Asimov
Part 03 of the Asimov's Future History series
Notes
The premise of the series is that mathematician Hari Seldon spent his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory, a concept of mathematical sociology (analogous to mathematical physics). Using the law of mass action, it can predict the future, but only on a large scale; it is error-prone on a small scale. It works on the principle that the behaviour of a mass of people is predictable if the quantity of this mass is very large (equal to the population of the galaxy, which has a population of quadrillions of humans, inhabiting millions of star systems). The larger the number, the more predictable is the future.
Using these techniques, Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting thirty thousand years before a second great empire arises. Seldon's psychohistory also foresees an alternative where the intermittent period will only last one thousand years. To ensure Seldon's vision of a second great Empire comes to fruition, Seldon creates two Foundations - small, secluded havens of all human knowledge - at "opposite ends of the galaxy".
Titles in series
- 01 - Prelude to Foundation (1988)
- 02 - Forward the Foundation (1993)
- 03 - Second Foundation Trilogy (series)
- 01 - Foundation's Fear by Gregory Benford (1997)
- 02 - Foundation and Chaos by Greg Bear (1998)
- 03 - Foundation's Triumph by David Brin (1999)
- 04 - Original Foundation Trilogy (series)
- 01 - Foundation (1951) (Novel)
- 02 - Foundation And Empire (1952) ()
- 03 - Second Foundation (1953) (Novel)
- - Bridle and Saddle (1942) (novelette)
- - Foundation (novelette) (1942) (novelette)
- - The Big and the Little (1944) (novelette)
- - The Wedge (1944) (novelette)
- - The Psychohistorians (1951) (novelette)
- - ... And Now You Don't (1949) (short story)
- 05 - Foundation's Edge (1982) ()
- 06 - Foundation and Earth (1986)
- - Foundations Friends by Martin H Greenberg (1989) (collection)
- - A Word Or Two From Janet by Janet Jeppson Asimov (1989) (essay)
- - Safety First by Johnny Pez (1999) (fan fiction)
- - No Connections by Randall Garrett (1982) (short story)
- - Balance by Mike Resnick (1989) (short story)
- - Blot by Hal Clement (1989) (short story)
- - Carhunters Of The Concrete Prairie by Robert Sheckley (1989) (short story)
- - Dilemma by Connie Willis (1989) (short story)
- - Maureen Birnbaum After Dark by Betsy Spiegelman Fein (1989) (short story)
- - Murder In The Urth Degree by Edward Wellen (1989) (short story)
- - Plato's Cave by Poul Anderson (1989) (short story)
- - Strip-Runner by Pamela Sargent (1989) (short story)
- - The Asenion Solution by Robert Silverberg (1989) (short story)
- - The Fourth Law Of Robotics by Harry Harrison (1989) (short story)
- - The Originist by Orson Scott Card (1989) (short story)
- - The Overheard Conversation by Edward D Hoch (1989) (short story)
- - The Present Eternal by Barry N Malzberg (1989) (short story)
- - The Reunion At The Mile-High by Frederik Pohl (1989) (short story)
- - Trantor Falls by Harry Turtledove (1989) (short story)
Cover Images