Asimov, << AZ ih mahf, >> Isaac (1920-1992), was an American author. He wrote about 400 books for young people and adults, mostly nonfiction emphasizing science and technology. However, he became best known for his science fiction. Many of Asimov’s short stories and novels feature robots as characters. Several were collected in I, Robot (1950). His popular Foundation series of science-fiction novels includes Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952), Second Foundation (1953), Foundation’s Edge (1982), Foundation and Earth (1986), Prelude to Foundation (1988), and Forward the Foundation (published in 1993, after his death). He also wrote Fantastic Voyage (1966) and The Gods Themselves (1972).
Asimov’s nonfiction is notable for making complicated material understandable to the general reader. These works include Asimov’s New Guide to Science (1984). Asimov also wrote on such topics as history, humor, William Shakespeare, and the Bible. He wrote two volumes of autobiography, In Memory Yet Green (1979) and In Joy Still Felt (1980).
Asimov was born on Jan. 2, 1920, in Petrovichi, Russia, near Smolensk. When he was 3 years old, his family moved to New York City. Asimov became a United States citizen in 1928. He taught biochemistry at Boston University from 1949 to 1958 before becoming a full-time writer. He died on April 6, 1992.
