Isaac Asimov

January 2, 1920 - April 6, 1992

The Russian American author and professor of biochemistry, Isaac Asimov, was perhaps one of the most prolific writers of all time having written and edited over five hundred books. His writing extended across many genres from mystery to non-fiction, including what he is best known for, Science Fiction and popular science books. The topics of Asimov's works were so widespread that they spanned the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System.

Asimov taught himself to read and began writing at an early age. He was a clever child and convinced his father to allow him to read pulp Science Fiction magazines even though his father abhorred them. Asimov applied to medical school but ended up receiving his PhD in biochemistry. He had a brief military career in which he rose to the rank of corporal due to his impressive typing skills.

Asimov' s writing career began with a focus on Science Fiction. He wrote a plethora of short stories, the first of which was Cosmic Corkscew. Some of his most well-known novels include the Foundation series, the Galactic Empire series, and the Robot series. As part of his stories, Asimov created the "Three Laws of Robotics" and coined a number of terms including "robotics," "positronic," "psychohistory," and "spome". Later in life, Asimov wrote popular science and history books, mystery novels, a treatise to the Bible, and even a book of limericks.

Asimov received a number of awards including fourteen honorary doctorates during his lifetime. He was a member and Vice President of Mensa International and President of the American Humanist Organization. Asimov inspired many and has earned his nickname, the "Master of Hard Science Fiction".