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Foundation

Asimov, Isaac, 1920-1992. Book - 1991 Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / Classic / Asimov, Isaac, Science Fiction / Asimov, Isaac 1 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4.6 out of 5

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Call Number: Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / Classic / Asimov, Isaac, Science Fiction / Asimov, Isaac
On Shelf At: Malletts Creek Branch

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Reprint. Originally published: Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday, 1951.
"A Bantam Spectra book"--Title page verso.
pt. 1. Psychohistorians -- pt. 2. Encyclopedists -- pt. 3. Mayors -- pt. 4. Traders -- pt. 5. Merchant princes.
For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Sheldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future--to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire--both scientists and scholars--and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for a future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation. But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. Mankind's last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and be overrun--or fight them and be destroyed.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Good, but maybe not great. submitted by -alex- on January 14, 2017, 11:02pm Foundation is a decent page-turner, and clearly deserves its prominent place in the Science Fiction canon.

At first glance though, there are elements to Foundation that are straight-up goofy to modern eyes. The novel dates from the 1950's, and it shows. The planet at the center of the story is run on nuclear power, which seems to produce no radioactive waste, and is at the center of a capitalist economy that has inexhaustible resources, and which produces no ill-effects.

Also, the the most basic underlying premise of the book is that the history of this fictional universe unfolds in a predictable and knowable pattern, and that the future can be known and managed with precision. It smacks of Marx and his dialectic. Both men underestimate the complexity of the phenomenal world, and overestimated bounds of what is knowable. It all seems hopelessly quaint.

On the other hand though, Foundation may well serve as a pointed commentary on American power. Maybe the real source of the United States' power rests, despite all our military might, in the irresistible force of our consumer culture, and in the commercial forces that fuel it.

Maybe the pointless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq highlight a point that Asimov was clear-eyed enough to see even as far back as the 1950's- that soft power and economic persuasion were always America's greatest strength.

Decent submitted by c_zhang on June 28, 2019, 1:03pm It's a pretty good book. The pacing is alright, but it's very predictable. Some parts seem very unrealistic, but that's just because of when it was written. Kept me entertained.

Fascinating Interweaving of Science Fact with Fiction submitted by sVfGI7Glt2pz7GZgVB90 on August 18, 2019, 9:04am
This book redefined the science fiction genus, Asimov's first book. Hari Seldon is expected to use mathematics and probability to forecast the future. But he cannot thwart the decline of humanity that he foresees. He congregates the galaxy's top intellectuals on a bleak outer planet and aims to conserve the accumulated knowledge of humankind, and begin a new civilization based on art, science, and technology. It is supposed to withstand a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare, but intense barbarism is lurking in space ....


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PUBLISHED
New York : Bantam Books, 1991.
Year Published: 1991
Description: 296 pages ; 18 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book

READING LEVEL
Lexile: 830

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780593497487
0553293354 (pbk.)

SUBJECTS
Seldon, Hari (Fictitious character)
Historians -- Fiction.
Prophecy -- Fiction.
Science fiction.
Epic fiction.