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Psychohistory (fictional)
The ''Foundation'' universe is the future history of humanity's colonization of the galaxy, spanning nearly 25,000 years, created through the gradual fusion of the ''Robot'', '' Galactic Empire'', and '' Foundation'' book series written by American author Isaac Asimov. Works set in the universe Asimov's ''Greater Foundation'' series Merging the ''Robot'', the ''Empire'' and the ''Foundation'' series The ''Foundation'' series is set in the same universe as Asimov's first published novel, '' Pebble in the Sky'', although ''Foundation'' takes place about 10,000 years later. ''Pebble in the Sky'' became the basis for the ''Galactic Empire'' series. Then, at some unknown date (prior to writing ''Foundation's Edge'') Asimov decided to merge the ''Foundation''/''Galactic Empire'' series with his ''Robot'' series. Thus, all three series are set in the same universe, giving them a combined length of 18 novels, and a total of about 1,500,000 words. The merge also created a time-spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Future History
A future history, imaginary history or anticipatory history is a fictional conjecture of the future used by authors of science fiction and other speculative fiction to construct a common background for stories. Sometimes the author publishes a timeline of events in the history, while other times the reader can reconstruct the order of the stories from information provided. The term can also be used to describe the subgenre of science fiction that uses this framework. A set of stories which share a backdrop but are not really concerned with the sequence of history in their universe are rarely considered future histories. For example, Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga is not generally considered a future history. Standalone stories which trace an arc of history are rarely considered future histories. Future histories differ from alternate history, in which different outcomes are ascribed to past events, because they consist of imagined events in the writer's future. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains part of that company. Ballantine's original logo was a pair of mirrored letter Bs back to back, later changing to two Bs stacked to form an elaborate gate. The firm's early editors were Stanley Kauffmann and Bernard Shir-Cliff. History Following Fawcett Publications' controversial 1950 introduction of Gold Medal paperback originals rather than reprints, Lion Books, Avon and Ace also decided to publish originals. In 1952, Ian Ballantine, a founder of Bantam Books, announced that he would "offer trade publishers a plan for simultaneous publishing of original titles in two editions, a hardcover 'regular' edition for bookstore sale, and a paper-cover, 'newsstand' size, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Final Science Fiction Collection
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robot Visions
''Robot Visions'' (1990) is a collection of science fiction short stories and factual essays by Isaac Asimov. Many of the stories are reprinted from other Asimov collections, particularly '' I, Robot'' and '' The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories''. It also includes the title story, "Robot Visions" (written specifically for this collectionAsimov, Isaac: ''Robot Visions'', p. 17. Roc, 1990.), which combines Asimov's motifs of robots and of time travel. It is the companion book to '' Robot Dreams'' (1986). Contents Introduction: The Robot Chronicles An 18-page introductory essay by Asimov, consisting of 17 pages of text and a one-page illustration by Ralph McQuarrie (these are the page counts of the hardcover edition). This essay (minus the illustration) was later reprinted in Asimov's collection ''Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robot Dreams (short Story Collection)
''Robot Dreams'' (1986) is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov, illustrated by Ralph McQuarrie. The title story is about Susan Calvin's discovery of a robot with rather disturbing dreams. It was written specifically for this volumeAsimov, Isaac. ''Robot Dreams''. Ace, 1990, page xvi and inspired by the McQuarrie cover illustration. All of the other stories had previously appeared in various other Asimov collections. Four of the stories are robot stories, while five are Multivac stories. The companion book, which also showcases McQuarrie's illustrations (and includes Asimov essays in addition to short stories), is titled ''Robot Visions.'' Contents It contains a foreword by Asimov as well as the following stories: # " Little Lost Robot" (1947), a ''Robot'' story # " Robot Dreams" (1986), a ''Robot'' story # " Breeds There a Man...?" (1951) # " Hostess" (1951) # " Sally" (1953), a ''Robot'' story # " Strikebreaker" (1957) # " The Mach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Complete Robot
''The Complete Robot'' (1982) is a collection of 31 of the 37 science fiction short stories about robots by American writer Isaac Asimov, written between 1939 and 1977.Introduction, ''The Complete Robot'', Isaac Asimov Most of the stories had been previously collected in the books '' I, Robot'' and '' The Rest of the Robots'', while four had previously been uncollected and the rest had been scattered across five other anthologies. They share a theme of the interaction of humans, robots and morality, and put together tell a larger story of Asimov's fictional history of robotics. The stories are grouped into categories. Contents * Introduction * Some Non-human Robots ** " A Boy's Best Friend" (1975) ** " Sally" (1953) ** " Someday" (1956), also ''Multivac'' series * Some Immobile Robots ** " Point of View" (1975), also ''Multivac'' series ** " Think!" (1977) ** " True Love" (1977), also ''Multivac'' series * Some Metallic Robots ** " Robot AL-76 Goes Astray" (1942) ** " Victory Un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rest Of The Robots
''The Rest of the Robots'' is a collection of eight short stories and two full-length novels by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1964. The stories, centred on positronic robots, are all part of the ''Robot'' series, most of which take place in the ''Foundation'' universe. Another collection of short stories about robots, '' I, Robot'', was re-published in the previous year, which is why Asimov chose to title the collection as ''The Rest of the Robots''. None of the short stories in this collection were in ''I, Robot'', however all of them were later included in ''The Complete Robot'', and both novels about Elijah Baley were also published separately. The texts in the collection were grouped into four chapters, differentiating their central themes. The first chapter, "The Coming of the Robots", included some of Asimov's earliest robot stories, where the Three Laws of Robotics were not yet explicitly defined. The following chapter, "The Laws of Robotics", included s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is a prolific American science fiction author and editor. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a SFWA Grand Master, Grand Master of SF since 2004. Especially noted Silverberg works include the novella ''Nightwings (novella), Nightwings'' (1969) and the novels ''Downward to the Earth'' (1970), ''The World Inside'' (1971), ''Dying Inside'' (1972), and ''Lord Valentine's Castle'' (1980; the first of the Majipoor series). Silverberg has attended every Hugo Award ceremony since the inaugural event in 1953. Biography Early life Silverberg was born on January 15, 1935, to Jew, Jewish parents in Brooklyn, New York. A voracious reader since childhood, he began submitting stories to science fiction magazines during his early teenage years. He received a BA in English Literature from Columbia University, in 1956. While at Columbia he wrote the juvenile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bicentennial Man
"The Bicentennial Man" is a novelette in the ''Robot'' series by American writer Isaac Asimov. According to the foreword in ''Robot Visions'', Asimov was approached to write a story, along with a number of other authors who would do the same, for a science fiction collection to be published in honor of the United States Bicentennial. However, the arrangement fell through, leaving Asimov's the only story actually completed for the project. Asimov sold the story to Judy-Lynn del Rey, who made some small changes to the text. Asimov restored the original text when the story was collected in '' The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories'' (1976).Asimov, I. (1990) ''The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories'', VGSF, pp. 133–134 The story formed the basis of the novel '' The Positronic Man'' (1992), co-written with Robert Silverberg, and the 1999 film '' Bicentennial Man'', starring Robin Williams. In terms of setting, this novelette spans a time period of 200 years. Chapter 13 of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gods Themselves
''The Gods Themselves'' is a 1972 science fiction novel written by Isaac Asimov, and his first original work in the science fiction genre in fifteen years (not counting his 1966 novelization of ''Fantastic Voyage''). It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1973. The book is divided into three main parts, which were first published in ''Galaxy'' and '' Worlds of If'' as three consecutive stories. Overview The book is divided into three sections; the first set on the Earth, the second set on a planet in a parallel universe, and the third set on a lunar colony. In the first section, the book opens at chapter six to give context to the other chapters, and alternates timelines. Thus, the flow is Chapter six overview of Chapter one, then Chapter one. Next, is Chapter six overview of Chapter two, then Chapter two. Following chapter three to five, chapter six then concludes, and the story proceeds with chapter seven. The main plot-line is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark W
Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currency or unit of account in many nations * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1928 * Finnish markka (), the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002 * Polish mark (), the currency of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Republic of Poland between 1917 and 1924 German * Deutsche Mark, the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until 2002 * German gold mark, the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914 * German Papiermark, the German currency from 4 August 1914 * German rentenmark, a currency issu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
