Isaac Asimov

Dr. Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992, Russian ????? ?????? IPA: {{IPA| /ˈaɪz?k ˈæzɪmˌɔf/}}) was a Russian-born American author and biochemist, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series, which he later combined with two of his other series, the Galactic Empire Series and Robot series. He also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as a great amount of non-fiction. Asimov wrote or edited over 500 volumes and an estimated 90,000 letters or postcards, and he has works in every major category of the Dewey Decimal System except Philosophy. Asimov was by general consensus a master of the science-fiction genre and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, was considered to be one of the "Big Three" science-fiction writers during his lifetime.

Intellectual positions

Isaac Asimov was a humanist and a rationalist. He did not oppose genuine religious conviction in others but was against superstitious or unfounded beliefs.

Related Topics:
Humanist - Rationalist - Superstitious

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Asimov was a progressive on most political issues, and a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party. In a television interview in the early 1970s he publicly endorsed George McGovern. He was unhappy at what he saw as an irrationalist tack taken by many progressive political activists from the late 1960s onwards. His defense of civil applications of nuclear power even after the Three Mile Island incident damaged his relations with some on the left. He issued many appeals for population control reflecting the perspective articulated by people from Thomas Malthus through Paul R. Ehrlich. In the closing years of his life, Asimov blamed the deterioration of the quality of life that he perceived in New York on the shrinking tax base caused by middle class flight to the suburbs. His last non-fiction book, Our Angry Earth (1991, co-written with science fiction author Frederik Pohl), deals with elements of the environmental crisis such as global warming and the destruction of the ozone layer.

Related Topics:
Progressive - Political issues - Democratic Party - 1970s - George McGovern - 1960s - Nuclear power - Three Mile Island - Population control - Thomas Malthus - Paul R. Ehrlich - New York - Tax - Base - Middle class - Suburbs - 1991 - Frederik Pohl - Environment - Global warming - Ozone layer

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