IsaacAsimov

Author of over five hundred books, and editor of a bunch more. Most of these are scientific in nature, but his best-known are ScienceFiction works, including many short stories, particularly those dealing with robots.

Asimov is also famous for formulating "Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics," common-sense laws governing practical robotic behavior which state:

1. A robot may not, through action or inaction, cause a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must follow the orders of a human, unless those orders conflict with the first law.
3. A robot must protect its existence, unless that conflicts with the first or second laws.

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Among Asimov's works:

Lije Bailey series, a.k.a. the Robot novels

• TheCavesOfSteel?
• TheNakedSun?
• TheRobotsOfDawn?
• RobotsAndEmpire?

Empire series

• PebbleInTheSky?
• TheStarsLikeDust
• TheCurrentsOfSpace

Foundation series

• PreludeToFoundation?
• ForwardTheFoundation?
• Foundation
• FoundationAndEmpire?
• SecondFoundation?
• FoundationsEdge?
• FoundationAndEarth?

Miscellaneous science fiction

• IRobot?, a collection of short stories amalgamated into a series of reminsicences about the progression of robotic science
• TheEndOfEternity?
• FantasticVoyage, a novelization of the screenplay for the film
• TheGodsThemselves?, a speculative novel about a truly alien culture
• Nemesis?
• collections of short stories, some with essays
  • AsimovGold?
  • EarthIsRoomEnough?
  • TheMartianWay?
  • RobotDreams?
  • RobotVisions?
  • etc.

Short SF adapted by RobertSilverberg? into novels

• Nightfall?, Asimov's classic "Nightfall" followed by its aftermath
• ThePositronicMan?, Asimov's "The Bicentennial Man" stretched out
• TheUglyLittleBoy?, Asimov's "The Ugly Little Boy" stretched out and interspersed with depictions of Neanderthal society

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I've decided to embark on a little reading project: To read Asimov's Robots/Empire/Foundation series in chronological order (nearly the order listed above, but starting with IRobot?. Initially I had set out to read the Foundation series, starting with PreludeToFoundation?. The introduction to that book has a nice listing of the books from the larger future history, including the robot series and the Empire novels, and I thought, "What the heck. Why not do the whole thing?" So that's what I plan to do. I've decided to include the non-Asimov Foundation books written by the Killer Bs. I've read all of these books over the years (perhaps excepting TheCurrentsOfSpace and PebbleInTheSky?, which I may or may not have read), but never one after the other, or in chronological order. We'll see how it goes. -- DaleEmery 2004-07-21

Wikipedia has a good list of the series in order: WikiPedia:Foundation_series. Remember the RogerMacBrideAllen? Robot novels too!

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External Links

• [The Asimov Vault] (Photos, sound recordings, biography and links)

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VisionsOfWonder are TheAuthorsDue.