Foundation (book series)
The premise of the stories is that in the waning days of a future Galactic Empire, the mathematician Hari Seldon devises the theory of psychohistory, a new and effective mathematics of sociology.Although the momentum of the Empire's fall is too great to stop, Seldon devises a plan by which "the onrushing mass of events must be deflected just a little" to eventually limit this interregnum to just one thousand years.The recording reveals that the present events are the first such crisis, reminds them that a second foundation was also formed at the "opposite end" of the galaxy, and then falls silent.Using its scientific advantages, Terminus develops trade routes with nearby planets, eventually taking them over when its technology becomes a coveted commodity.One such trader, Hober Mallow, becomes powerful enough to challenge and win the office of Mayor and, by cutting off supplies to a nearby region, also succeeds in adding more planets to the Foundation's control.An ambitious general of the emperor of the galaxy perceives the Foundation to be a growing threat and orders an attack on it, using the Empire's mighty fleet of war vessels.The Emperor, initially supportive, becomes suspicious of his general's long-term motive for the attack and recalls the fleet despite being close to victory.Still uncertain about his decision, Trevize continues the search for Earth along with Pelorat and a local of Gaia, advanced in Mentalics, known as Blissenobiarella (usually referred to simply as Bliss).Olivaw explains that he has been instrumental in guiding human history for thousands of years, having provided the impetus for Seldon to create psychohistory and also the creation of Gaia, but is now close to the end of his ability to maintain himself and will shortly cease to function.Although many science fiction novels such as Nineteen Eighty-Four or Fahrenheit 451 do this, their focus is on how current trends in society might come to fruition and they act as a moral allegory of the modern world.The Foundation series, on the other hand, looks at the trends in a wider scope, dealing with societal evolution and adaptation rather than the human and cultural qualities at one point in time.He also opens a brand new line of thought in the last dozen pages regarding Galaxia, a galaxy inhabited by a single collective mind.According to his widow Janet Asimov (in her biography of Isaac, It's Been a Good Life), he had no idea how to continue after Foundation and Earth, so he started writing the prequels.In the spring of 1955, Asimov published a future history of humanity in the pages of Thrilling Wonder Stories magazine based upon his thought processes concerning the Foundation universe at that point in his life.After Cleon inherits the crown, the mathematician Hari Seldon comes to Trantor from Helicon to deliver his theory of psychohistory that predicts the fall of the empire, which triggers the events of Prelude to Foundation.[11] According to Asimov, he intended this to take place around the year 47000 CE, with the Empire in decay as it battles the rising Foundation, who emerges as the dominant power a few centuries later.[16] In Learned Optimism,[17] psychologist Martin Seligman identifies the Foundation series as one of the most important influences in his professional life, because of the possibility of predictive sociology based on psychological principles.He also lays claim to the first successful prediction of a major historical (sociological) event, in the 1988 US elections, and he specifically attributes this to a psychological principle.[18] In his 1996 book To Renew America, U. S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote that he was influenced by reading the Foundation trilogy in high school.[22] When Musk's Tesla Roadster was launched into space on the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket in February 2018, among other items it carried a 5D optical data storage copy of the Foundation series.[23][24] Stating that it "offers a useful summary of some of the dynamics of far-flung imperial Rome", Carl Sagan in 1978 listed the Foundation series as an example of how science fiction "can convey bits and pieces, hints and phrases, of knowledge unknown or inaccessible to the reader".Herbert has taken a look at the same imaginative situation that provoked Asimov's classic—the decay of a galactic empire—and restated it in a way that draws on different assumptions and suggests radically different conclusions.It is set in the same fictional universe as the Foundation series, in considerable detail, but with virtually all Foundation-specific names either changed (e.g., Kalgan becomes Lakgan), or avoided (psychohistory is created by an unnamed, but often-referenced Founder).[citation needed] In 1998, the novel Spectre (part of the Shatnerverse series) by William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens states that the Mirror Universe divergent path has been studied by the Seldon Psychohistory Institute.[citation needed] The oboe-like holophonor in Matt Groening's animated television series Futurama is based directly upon the Visi-Sonor which Magnifico plays in Foundation and Empire.Adapted by Patrick Tull (episodes 1 to 4) and Mike Stott (episodes 5 to 8), the dramatisation was directed by David Cain and starred William Eedle as Hari Seldon, with Geoffrey Beevers as Gaal Dornick, Lee Montague as Salvor Hardin, Julian Glover as Hober Mallow, Dinsdale Landen as Bel Riose, Maurice Denham as Ebling Mis and Prunella Scales as Lady Callia.[53] On July 29, 2008, New Line Cinema co-founders Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne were reported to have been signed on to produce an adaptation of the trilogy by their company Unique Pictures for Warner Brothers.[56] In November 2014, TheWrap reported that Jonathan Nolan was writing and producing a TV series based on the Foundation Trilogy for HBO.[63] The Foundation TV series was filmed at Troy Studios, Limerick, Ireland, and the budget was expected to be approximately $50 million.
Foundation (TV series)FoundationIsaac AsimovFoundation and EmpireSecond FoundationFoundation's EdgeFoundation and EarthPrelude to FoundationForward the FoundationFoundation's FearGregory BenfordFoundation and ChaosGreg BearFoundation's TriumphDavid BrinScience fictionAstounding Science FictionStreet & SmithGnome PressSpectraDoubledayshort storiesHugo AwardGalactic EmpireHari Seldonpsychohistorymathematicsmass actionMilky Waydark ageinterregnumAstounding Science-FictionEdward GibbonHistory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireJohn W. CampbellWest PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia Naval YardRobots of DawnThe Naked SunR. Daneel OlivawThe Caves of SteelFoundation (Asimov novel)Encyclopedia GalacticahologramSalvor HardinHober Mallowthe MuleToran and Bayta DarellEbling MisGolan TrevizeTrevizeJanov PeloratStor GendibalpositronicTrantorDors VenabiliChetter HumminThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empirescience fiction fandomFuturiansMichelismNineteen Eighty-FourFahrenheit 451ThucydidesHistory of the Peloponnesian Waronce acknowledgedGalaxiacollective mindJanet AsimovIt's Been a Good LifeFuture HistoryThrilling Wonder StoriesFoundation novelMartin Seligman1988 US electionsU. S. House SpeakerNewt GingrichPaul KrugmanNobel Memorial Prize in Economic SciencesElon MuskMusk's Tesla Roadstermaiden flightFalcon Heavy5D optical data storageCarl SaganBarsoom seriesEdgar Rice BurroughsFuture History seriesRobert A. HeinleinLensman seriesEdward E. SmithThe Lord of the RingsJ. R. R. Tolkien1966 Hugo Awards1982 Nebula AwardsBest Novel1983 Locus AwardsBest SF NovelBest NovellaThe OriginistOrson Scott CardCleon the EmperorDead Hand...And Now You Don’tBridle and Saddle"The Big and the Little" (aka "The Merchant Princes")"The Wedge" (aka "The Traders")2023 Seiun AwardsDouglas AdamsThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyFrank HerbertDonald KingsburyPsychohistorical Crisiscomputer scienceSpectreShatnerverseWilliam ShatnerJudith and Garfield Reeves-StevensMirror UniverseMatt GroeningFuturamaVisi-SonorMagnificoMarvel ComicsCivil Warcrossover