Foundation
I've been meaning to read Asimov's work for a while now. Ever since I
read his autobiography a couple of years ago, I've wanted to dig in to
his fiction. So when my brother got me Foundation for Christmas and my book club chose I, Robot for March, I had the perfect opportunity to sample some of his work.
Foundation is truly epic in nature, following a civilization across several planets and over 100 years. I wish I'd had more time with some of the characters, but overall I liked the small glimpses we got at various points in human history.
It's always interesting to read older science fiction, because it's fun to see what has and hasn't come to pass. In the case of this novel, humankind has achieved interplanetary travel and has managed to both terraform and settle most of the planets in the galaxy. But they never bothered to archive their knowledge in an easily accessible and searchable place. Looking at it today, it's a bit funny that society has invented hyper-drive but not Wikipedia. But I suppose that in the 60s that made a lot more sense, when they had the space race but not the internet.
Even more interesting to me is the concept of psychohistory. While we don't have anything near the science Hari Seldon invents in the book, using psychology and sociology to predict the actions and attitudes of the masses is definitely a science that's in development now. There are still far too many variables to predict what everyone will do or what will happen in the far future; it's a lot like meteorology in that respect. Still, the science is getting more exact and it's not too huge of a leap for me to accept the predictions Seldon is able to male.
It's a lot of fun to watch Seldon's crises come and go, and to see the power of the Foundation shift from scientific to religious to economic. I'm eager to read the next book and see what the next shift brings. I also hope that Seldon's plan continues to stay on track and the Renaissance happens soon. But before that, I'm also looking forward to reading the first book of Asimov's other main series.
Foundation is truly epic in nature, following a civilization across several planets and over 100 years. I wish I'd had more time with some of the characters, but overall I liked the small glimpses we got at various points in human history.
It's always interesting to read older science fiction, because it's fun to see what has and hasn't come to pass. In the case of this novel, humankind has achieved interplanetary travel and has managed to both terraform and settle most of the planets in the galaxy. But they never bothered to archive their knowledge in an easily accessible and searchable place. Looking at it today, it's a bit funny that society has invented hyper-drive but not Wikipedia. But I suppose that in the 60s that made a lot more sense, when they had the space race but not the internet.
Even more interesting to me is the concept of psychohistory. While we don't have anything near the science Hari Seldon invents in the book, using psychology and sociology to predict the actions and attitudes of the masses is definitely a science that's in development now. There are still far too many variables to predict what everyone will do or what will happen in the far future; it's a lot like meteorology in that respect. Still, the science is getting more exact and it's not too huge of a leap for me to accept the predictions Seldon is able to male.
It's a lot of fun to watch Seldon's crises come and go, and to see the power of the Foundation shift from scientific to religious to economic. I'm eager to read the next book and see what the next shift brings. I also hope that Seldon's plan continues to stay on track and the Renaissance happens soon. But before that, I'm also looking forward to reading the first book of Asimov's other main series.
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