ob3kenob Posted January 2, 2004 I just found out that today (Friday, January 2nd) is Official Science Fiction Day! So CHEERS to you, SF! It's also Isaac Asimov's Birthday, for all us Asimov fans. Just thought you'd like to know. If you don't care, think of it this way: it's a good excuse for having another beer... 0 Share this post Link to post
Fredrik Posted January 2, 2004 Never read Asimov, though I know I should :( 0 Share this post Link to post
Disorder Posted January 2, 2004 ob3kenob said:It's also Isaac Asimov's Birthday, for all us Asimov fans. Just thought you'd like to know. Asi-who? 0 Share this post Link to post
Lord FlatHead Posted January 3, 2004 Science Fiction writer, author of I, Robot and the Foundation series, among many others. 0 Share this post Link to post
Fredrik Posted January 3, 2004 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov 0 Share this post Link to post
sargebaldy Posted January 3, 2004 asimov's foundation series is simply incredible. it's tied with lord of the rings as my favorite series of anything. i recommend it to anyone who knows how to read. 0 Share this post Link to post
Grazza Posted January 3, 2004 I've read quite a large proportion of Asimov's science fiction works. The Foundation series is undoubtedly his greatest achievement - I only wish he had returned to it earlier in his career, and completed a full set of prequels and sequels. The wikipedia piece that Fredrik linked to was the first I'd heard about his real cause of death - looking at the dates of the prequels, it appears that he might have decided to focus on them once he knew he only had a few years left. He's probably my favourite writer, on balance. I especially liked the way his stories left you thinking, and credited the reader with sufficient intelligence that they didn't need to be spoon-fed with everything. 0 Share this post Link to post
darknation Posted January 3, 2004 I've been reading him recently. His foresight in many things is staggering. 2001 is on the telly in Britland btw. You'll catch the end if you hurry. 0 Share this post Link to post
Ichor Posted January 3, 2004 Science Fiction Day means a several hour long Stargate marathon on the Sci-Fi channel. 0 Share this post Link to post
JavaGuy4230 Posted January 3, 2004 Does anyone know a site where I can read a few of his short stories? I have a project to do on him, and while I don't have time to read his novels, it'd be nice to read a few of his works, other than the one I've read (titled 'Potential'). 0 Share this post Link to post
ob3kenob Posted January 3, 2004 BTW, how many know that "Ubik" is the title of one of Philip K. Dick's books? And is that you under that rock, Disorder? Come on out, the weather's fine. 0 Share this post Link to post
Grazza Posted January 3, 2004 JavaGuy4230 said:Does anyone know a site where I can read a few of his short stories?That would be bookwarez, so no such links can be provided in these forums. This site looks useful though. 0 Share this post Link to post
Fletcher` Posted January 3, 2004 læmænt said:I hate asimov I'm sure asimov hates you too 0 Share this post Link to post
Sharessa Posted January 3, 2004 Grazza said:That would be bookwarez, so no such links can be provided in these forums. This site looks useful though. What the fuck is with Bookwarez anyway? I mean its like "oh shit, I want to read a book, but I have no money! I think I'll download a book." Okay, did these morons ever hear of a library? Its more fun and less headache-inducing to read from a book anyway. 0 Share this post Link to post
dsm Posted January 3, 2004 sargebaldy said:asimov's foundation series is simply incredible. it's tied with lord of the rings as my favorite series of anything. i recommend it to anyone who knows how to read. Hmm, without giving any surprises away, what's the plot? 0 Share this post Link to post
Grazza Posted January 3, 2004 dsm said:Hmm, without giving any surprises away, what's the plot? It's set in the distant future, when the Galactic Empire spans the galaxy but is in a state of gradual though terminal decay, according to the theories of Hari Seldon, who has developed the new science of psychohistory, which predicts the behaviour of very large groups of people but not individuals (much as thermodynamics predicts the behaviour of very large numbers of molecules but not of individual ones). The Foundation series is the story of the plan that Seldon sets in motion, whose aim is to avoid a prolonged dark age after the fall of the Empire. 0 Share this post Link to post
Sharessa Posted January 3, 2004 I say the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the greatest sci-fi series ever, followed very closely by the original Dune novels. 0 Share this post Link to post
dsm Posted January 3, 2004 Grazza said:It's set in the distant future, when the Galactic Empire spans the galaxy but is in a state of gradual though terminal decay, according to the theories of Hari Seldon, who has developed the new science of psychohistory, which predicts the behaviour of very large groups of people but not individuals (much as thermodynamics predicts the behaviour of very large numbers of molecules but not of individual ones). The Foundation series is the story of the plan that Seldon sets in motion, whose aim is to avoid a prolonged dark age after the fall of the Empire. Ah, sounds very familiar - I believe my brother borrowed those at some point, because he did babble a lot about a sci-fi series of books which was very imaginative. The Psychohistory thing does ring a bell - iirc it had something to do with somehow predicting stuff, but I'm not sure. I should go and talk to my bro about it. 0 Share this post Link to post
ob3kenob Posted January 3, 2004 You should just go ahead and read the books, at least the original three. You can sail through them all on one weekend, unless you're a real slow reader. 0 Share this post Link to post
sargebaldy Posted January 3, 2004 dsm said:The Psychohistory thing does ring a bell - iirc it had something to do with somehow predicting stuff, but I'm not sure. I should go and talk to my bro about it. yeah, basically hari seldon was a "psychologist" (before that term was in popular use meaning something else :P), a mathematician who with a staff constructed a theory to predict the future of the universe using advanced mathematical theory to determine generalizations about groups of people in order to predict the future, and then used this insight to try to cut short the "dark age" of the universe following the fall of the galactic empire (which reminded me quite a lot of the roman empire :P). but of course, he was aware that after many years things could definitely go differently than he had planned. 0 Share this post Link to post
Disorder Posted January 3, 2004 ob3kenob said:is that you under that rock, Disorder? Come on out, the weather's fine. I hardly read. I have a very short attention span. I am interested in books, but everytime I start reading I'm very easily distracted. 0 Share this post Link to post
sargebaldy Posted January 3, 2004 Disorder said:I hardly read. I have a very short attention span. I am interested in books, but everytime I start reading I'm very easily distracted. Disorder's title says: I'm ½ the fan club of the Doom novelshow did that happen then? 0 Share this post Link to post