Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series, both of which he later tied into the same fictional universe as the Foundation Series to create a unified 'future history' for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Clarke, was considered one of the 'Big Three' science-fiction writers during his lifetime. He has works published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (lacking only an entry in the 100s category of Philosophy).Īsimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre and, along with Robert A. Professor Asimov is generally considered one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. Isaac Asimov died in 1992 at the age of 72.Isaac Asimov was a Russian-born, American author, a professor of biochemistry, and a highly successful writer, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Apart from his many world-famous science fiction works, Asimov also wrote highly successful detective mystery stories, a four-volume History of North America, a two-volume Guide to the Bible, a biographical dictionary, encyclopaedias, textbooks and an impressive list of books on many aspects of science, as well as two volumes of autobiography. With nearly five hundred books to his credit and several hundred articles, Asimov's output was prolific by any standards. He won the Hugo Award four times and the Nebula Award once.

Thereafter he became a regular contributor to the leading SF magazines of the day including Astounding, Astonishing Stories, Super Science Stories and Galaxy. Asimov's fantastic career as a science fiction writer began in 1939 with the appearance of a short story, `Marooned Off Vesta', in Amazing Stories. Increasingly, however, the pressures of chemical research conflicted with his aspirations in the literary field, and in 1958 he retired to full-time authorship while retaining his connection with the University.

He graduated in chemistry and after a short spell in the Army he gained his doctorate in 1949 and qualified as an instructor in biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine where he became Associate Professor in 1955, doing research in nucleic acid.

He then went on to Columbia University and resolved to become a chemist rather than follow the medical career his father had in mind for him. A remarkable memory helped him finish high school before he was sixteen. He grew up in Brooklyn where he went to grammar school and at the age of eight he gained his citizen papers. Isaac Asimov, world maestro of science fiction, was born in Russia near Smolensk in 1920 and was brought to the United States by his parents three years later.

The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov