In this essay I chose to write about Isaac Asimov. As an avid reader, I am familiar with several well-known authors and there were several I would have liked to learn more about. Unfortunately, being tied to the constraints of reality, only one choice was possible. I chose Isaac Asimov because not only am I an enthusiastic Asimov fan, but I also was intrigued with the man many refer to as the "Father of Science Fiction."

I was intrigued with his magnitude of works of over 500 books ranging from the History of Science to Science fiction classics (Siquiera). I wanted to delve into his world to see what propels a man to work at such a pace, an almost frenzied pace, writing over eight hours a day, seven days a week (Asimov FAQ).

Through research, I believe--or like to believe--that I have at least acquired a granule of understanding of such a brilliant complex mind, as I hope you, the reader, will have upon the completion of this paper.

Asimov was born on January 2, 1920 in Petrovichi, Russia. Russia, having just been through a World War and then a Revolution, was by no means a place of easy existence. Fortunately for the fans of science fiction, a relative living in the United States offered to sponsor Isaac's family's emigration out of Russia and into the U.S. where endless opportunities awaited. In February 1923, Isaac Asimov arrived in New York with his parents and younger sister into what was to be their new home (Asimov).

Cognizant that their son was bright (Isaac had taught himself to read by age five), Mr. and Mrs. Asimov pushed him to do well scholastically. "A mark of 95 would be treated by his father as a poor grade for a boy capable of achieving 100 percent" (Fiedler and Mele).

Perhaps it was Asimov's early years that were responsible for the work ethic that seemed to remain with him throughout his life. Aw a small child he had witnessed the brutality of the world. He saw his parents working 18 hours a day, seven days a week in their candy store, striving for a better life.

I think it is a natural assumption that whatever Asimov pursued he would have met success. He had gumption, and he had intelligence to compliment that gumption.

Asimov often entertained himself and friends by telling stories; by age eleven, he began to write them down. At fifteen, he graduated from Boys' High School in Brooklyn; he then earned a BS from Columbia University in 1939, a Master's Degree in 1941, and after a brief stint in the military where he was stationed in Hawaii, he earned a Ph.D. in 1948.

Although he "managed over his lifetime to have at least one book included in each of the Dewey Decimal System's ten major library classifications (Schaer 3), he is remembered for his contributions as a science fiction writer.

His critics may claim that he is not as vivid or imaginative with his stories as his peers; however, it is a combination of his imagination and scientific background that have enabled Asimov to foresee things in his stories that have become reality. And that is what makes him an outstanding science fiction writer. Asimov has won countless awards attesting to his ability. As Asimov himself said, "Science fiction is based on the fact of social change....it is ironic to me that science fiction is continually lumped under the heading of 'escape literature'...Yet, it does not escape into the 'isn't' as most fiction does, but into the 'just might possibly be.' If science fiction escapes, it is an escape into reality" (Fiedler and Mele 72).

Asimov took the rationality of a scientist and applied it to the creativeness of a story teller and came up with success. It is ironic that a man who spent years writing about the future and interstellar travel suffered from an irrational fear of heights and flying.

Asimov's most commercially successful work is probably the Foundation Trilogy. This is a series of works that relate the decline and fall of a galactic empire and of the man, Hari Seldon, who is determined to save that empire through his discovery of Psycho-History (a method of predicting human behavior and actions) and his band of academics that will implement the use of that Pyscho-History. Asimov makes things really tense when he created the character of the "Mule," and individual mutation whose action could not be predicted, and therefore threatened the Seldon Plan and the Foundation Empire. So popular were the Foundation stories that up until his death in 1992, there were plans for more foundation stories, over forty years after the first one had been published.

Fiedler and Mele describe the story's appeal the most accurately: "The most fascinating element is the depiction of human society's development...In the Foundation Trilogy, Asimov provides his readers with the pleasure of watching this type of ripple effect. As a result, the scope of Asimov's history fascinates in a way that is analogous to the appeal of the Decline and Fall of Roman Empire. The successful transfer of this historical perspective to science fiction is, more than any other single element, one of Asimov's greatest fictional inventions.

Along with his successes, Asimov has also felt the heat from his critics. Many people think of his earlier works as some of his best. However, in a 1991 review of his work, Forbes Magazine cites "The March of the Millennia" as being "riddled with errors" and "a pallid pot-boiler with a musty flavor of the 1960s.

Whether a fan of Asimov's or not, there is no denying that he was a prolific writer who left his mark upon the literary world. I wanted to see what kind of man Asimov was; I found unique mind that was able to reach people through his diligent work. I originally thought that his drive was instilled in him from childhood experiences, but I have since concluded that his drive to produce so many works stemmed from a need to share his ideas and thoughts.

Here was a man that had so many stories going on inside his head that it probably pained him not to get them out. Who can say what is responsible for a superior gifted mind? Is it genetics? Is it luck? We need not question it, but be thankful for it and for the many superior minds that have enriched our lives such as Isaac Asimov has enriched mine.

Asimov, Isaac. In Joy Still Felt. New York: Doubleday, 1980.
Fiedler, J. and Jim Mele. Isaac Asimov. New York: Ungar, 1982.
Forbes, M. "Stale Stuff." Forbes Magazine. 11 Nov. 1991: 24.
Sapp, G. "Asimov's Legacy." Library Journal. 1 Jan 1993: 40.
Shaer, S. Newsay. 7 April 1992: 3.
Siquiera, R. Email correspondence. delirium@ime.usp.br