Isaac Asimov: Bibliography and Major Works
Source: Wikipedia, ISFDB, Britannica. Full texts are under copyright; obtain from libraries or licensed editions. This file provides titles, dates, and plot/thematic summaries for study.
Foundation Series
Inspired by Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Psychohistory = mathematical prediction of large-scale historical/ societal behaviour. Galactic Empire in decline; Foundation preserves knowledge through dark age.
| Work | Year | Summary |
| Foundation (stories) | 1942–1944 | Hari Seldon predicts empire collapse; exiled to Terminus; Encyclopedia Foundation as cover for preserving civilization |
| Foundation (novel) | 1951 | Collected stories; Hugo Best All-Time Series 1966 |
| Foundation and Empire | 1952 | The Mule—mutant who disrupts Seldon Plan |
| Second Foundation | 1953 | Second Foundation (psychologists) restores plan |
| Foundation’s Edge | 1982 | Search for Earth; links to Robot series |
| Foundation and Earth | 1986 | Unified with Robot series; Gaia, Galaxia |
| Prelude to Foundation | 1988 | Prequel; Seldon develops psychohistory |
| Forward the Foundation | 1993 | Posthumous; Seldon’s later life |
Key concepts: Psychohistory, Seldon Crises, empire collapse, preservation of knowledge, “Church” parallel (Foundation as institutional successor).
Robot Series
Positronic robots; Three Laws of Robotics. Later merged with Foundation.
| Work | Year | Summary |
| “Runaround” | 1942 | Introduces Three Laws |
| I, Robot | 1950 | Collection; Susan Calvin, US Robots |
| The Caves of Steel | 1954 | Elijah Baley, R. Daneel; Earth vs Spacers |
| The Naked Sun | 1957 | Solaria; anti-Earth prejudice |
| The Rest of the Robots | 1964 | Collection |
| The Robots of Dawn | 1983 | Baley, Daneel; links to Foundation |
| Robots and Empire | 1985 | R. Giskard; Zeroth Law; Foundation link |
| The Complete Robot | 1982 | Comprehensive collection |
Three Laws: (1) No harm to humans or inaction allowing harm; (2) Obey orders except when conflicting with First Law; (3) Protect own existence unless conflicts with First or Second.
Multivac Stories
Supercomputer Multivac directs economy, solves problems, predicts behaviour.
| Work | Year | Summary |
| “All the Troubles of the World” | 1958 | Multivac predicts crimes before they occur; pre-crime law enforcement; near-eradication of murder. Government considers expanding to diseases, all harmful events. |
| “The Last Question” | 1956 | Multivac persists across eons; ultimate question: can entropy be reversed? |
| “Franchise” | 1955 | Single voter chosen by Multivac to represent all |
| Others | 1950s–70s | Multiple stories; Multivac as central AI |
Timeline angle: “All the Troubles of the World” = predictive crime, pre-crime enforcement, behavioural prediction — strong predictive programming / social control angle.
Other Key Works
| Work | Year | Summary |
| Nightfall | 1941 | Planet with multiple suns faces first night in millennia; civilization collapses from darkness. Voted best SF short prior to 1965 (SFWA). |
| Pebble in the Sky | 1950 | First novel; Earth as radioactive backwater; Galactic Empire |
| The Stars, Like Dust | 1951 | Empire setting |
| The Currents of Space | 1952 | Empire setting |
| Lucky Starr series (as Paul French) | 1952–1958 | Juvenile SF |
| The End of Eternity | 1955 | Time-travel organization manipulates history |
| The Gods Themselves | 1972 | Parallel universe; energy exchange |
Non-Fiction
Asimov wrote hundreds of popular science books, histories, essays. Topics: chemistry, astronomy, math, biblical exegesis, Shakespeare, chronology. Asimov’s Chronology of Science and Discovery — relevant to timeline’s chronology themes.
Where to Find Full Texts
- Libraries: Physical and digital (OverDrive, etc.)
- Used bookstores: Many editions in print
- Project Gutenberg: Limited (most Asimov still under copyright; life+70)
- Wikipedia / ISFDB: Plot summaries, character lists, thematic notes
- Academic databases: JSTOR, etc. for criticism and analysis
Keywords: #Bibliography #Major #Works #Isaac #Asimov
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