Part of Series
The first volume consists of the stories previously collected in Earth Is Room Enough, Nine Tomorrows, and Nightfall and Other Stories (but not the commentary from Nightfall and Other Stories). Volume One contains the following 48 short stories: - The Dead Past - The Foundation of S. F. Success - Franchise - Gimmicks Three - Kid Stuff - The Watery Place - Living Space - The Message - Satisfaction Guaranteed - Hell-Fire - The Last Trump - The Fun They Had - Jokester - The Immortal Bard - Someday - The Author's Ordeal - Dreaming Is a Private Thing - Profession - The Feeling of Power - The Dying Night - I'm in Marsport Without Hilda - The Gentle Vultures - All the Troubles of the World - Spell My Name with an S - The Last Question - The Ugly Little Boy - Nightfall - Green Patches - Hostess - Breeds There a Man…? - C-Chute - In a Good Cause— - What If— - Sally - Flies - Nobody Here But— - It's Such a Beautiful Day - Strikebreaker - Insert Knob A in Hole B - The Up-to-Date Sorcerer - Unto the Fourth Generation - What Is This Thing Called Love? - The Machine That Won the War - My Son, the Physicist - Eyes Do More Than See - Segregationist - I Just Make Them Up, See! - Rejection Slips.
Author
Isaac Asimov was a Russian-born, American author, a professor of biochemistry, and a highly successful writer, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Professor Asimov is generally considered one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. He has works published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (lacking only an entry in the 100s category of Philosophy). Asimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, was considered one of the "Big Three" science-fiction writers during his lifetime. Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series; his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series, both of which he later tied into the same fictional universe as the Foundation Series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson. He penned numerous short stories, among them "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America the best short science fiction story of all time, a title many still honor. He also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as a great amount of nonfiction. Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French. Most of Asimov's popularized science books explain scientific concepts in a historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage. He often provides nationalities, birth dates, and death dates for the scientists he mentions, as well as etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Examples include his Guide to Science, the three volume set Understanding Physics, and Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery. Asimov was a long-time member and Vice President of Mensa International, albeit reluctantly; he described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs" He took more joy in being president of the American Humanist Association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, a Brooklyn, NY elementary school, and two different Isaac Asimov Awards are named in his honor.
