103-577: Fanciful Tales of Time and Space was a semi-professional science fiction and fantasy magazine which published one issue in 1936. It was published by Donald A. Wollheim and Wilson Shepherd, two young science fiction fans; Wollheim was based in New York City, but the magazine was printed in Oakman, Alabama , where Shepherd had a letter press. Fanciful Tales included H.P. Lovecraft 's " The Nameless City ", which Lovecraft had written in 1921; and also included
206-455: A Frankenstein plot in which they destroyed their creators. The Robot series has led to film adaptations. With Asimov's collaboration, in about 1977, Harlan Ellison wrote a screenplay of I, Robot that Asimov hoped would lead to "the first really adult, complex, worthwhile science fiction film ever made". The screenplay has never been filmed and was eventually published in book form in 1994. The 2004 movie I, Robot , starring Will Smith ,
309-483: A New York City Subway station, within which he could enclose himself and listen to the rumble of passing trains while reading. Asimov was afraid of flying , doing so only twice: once in the course of his work at the Naval Air Experimental Station and once returning home from Oʻahu in 1946. Consequently, he seldom traveled great distances. This phobia influenced several of his fiction works, such as
412-925: A blind date on February 14, 1942, and married her on July 26. The couple lived in an apartment in West Philadelphia while Asimov was employed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard (where two of his co-workers were L. Sprague de Camp and Robert A. Heinlein ). Gertrude returned to Brooklyn while he was in the army, and they both lived there from July 1946 before moving to Stuyvesant Town , Manhattan , in July 1948. They moved to Boston in May 1949, then to nearby suburbs Somerville in July 1949, Waltham in May 1951, and, finally, West Newton in 1956. They had two children, David (born 1951) and Robyn Joan (born 1955). In 1970, they separated and Asimov moved back to New York, this time to
515-538: A Galaxy Bookshelf award "for doing his job". Upon Wollheim's death in 1990, the prolific editor Robert Silverberg argued ( above ) that he may have been " the most significant figure" in American SF publishing. Robert Jordan credited Wollheim for helping to launch Jordan's career. Wollheim made an offer for Jordan's first novel, Warriors of the Ataii , though he withdrew the offer when Jordan requested some minor changes to
618-477: A Judah Asimov Scholarship Fund at Brandeis University . In 2006, he was named by Carnegie Corporation of New York to the inaugural class of winners of the Great Immigrants Award . In 1977, Asimov had a heart attack . In December 1983, he had triple bypass surgery at NYU Medical Center, during which he contracted HIV from a blood transfusion . His HIV status was kept secret out of concern that
721-475: A college-level textbook called Biochemistry and Human Metabolism . Following the brief orbit of the first human-made satellite Sputnik I by the USSR in 1957, he wrote more nonfiction, particularly popular science books, and less science fiction. Over the next quarter-century, he wrote only four science fiction novels, and 120 nonfiction books. Starting in 1982, the second half of his science fiction career began with
824-590: A conversation with Campbell, Asimov wrote " Nightfall ", his 32nd story, in March and April 1941, and Astounding published it in September 1941. In 1968 the Science Fiction Writers of America voted "Nightfall" the best science fiction short story ever written. In Nightfall and Other Stories Asimov wrote, "The writing of 'Nightfall' was a watershed in my professional career ... I was suddenly taken seriously and
927-527: A father image". Asimov believed his most enduring contributions would be his " Three Laws of Robotics " and the Foundation series . The Oxford English Dictionary credits his science fiction for introducing into the English language the words " robotics ", " positronic " (an entirely fictional technology), and " psychohistory " (which is also used for a different study on historical motivations). Asimov coined
1030-754: A full novel of 70,000 words. The book appeared under the Doubleday imprint in January 1950 with the title of Pebble in the Sky . Doubleday published five more original science fiction novels by Asimov in the 1950s, along with the six juvenile Lucky Starr novels , the latter under the pseudonym "Paul French". Doubleday also published collections of Asimov's short stories, beginning with The Martian Way and Other Stories in 1955. The early 1950s also saw Gnome Press publish one collection of Asimov's positronic robot stories as I, Robot and his Foundation stories and novelettes as
1133-419: A full-time writer. He later said that unlike other Golden Age writers Heinlein and A. E. van Vogt —also first published in 1939, and whose talent and stardom were immediately obvious—Asimov "(this is not false modesty) came up only gradually". Through July 29, 1940, Asimov wrote 22 stories in 25 months, of which 13 were published; he wrote in 1972 that from that date he never wrote a science fiction story that
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#17331143019451236-548: A group from Philadelphia on October 22, 1936, in Philadelphia. The modern Philcon convention claims descent from this event. Out of this meeting, plans were formed for regional and national meetings, including the first-ever Worldcon . Wollheim was a member of the New York Science Fiction League, one of the clubs established by Hugo Gernsback to promote science fiction. When payment was not forthcoming for
1339-425: A historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage. Examples include Guide to Science , the three-volume Understanding Physics , and Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery . He wrote on numerous other scientific and non-scientific topics, such as chemistry , astronomy , mathematics , history , biblical exegesis , and literary criticism . He
1442-404: A lasting marriage and publishing partnership. The Futurians became less fan-oriented and more professional after 1940. Its conferences and workshops focused on writing, editing, and publishing, with many of its members interested in all three. Wollheim's first story, "The Man from Ariel", was published in the January 1934 issue of Wonder Stories when he was nineteen. He was not paid for
1545-557: A number of British writers, including E. C. Tubb , Brian Stableford , Barrington Bayley , and Michael Coney , a new American audience. He published translations of international sf as well as anthologies of translated stories, Best From the Rest of the World. With the help of Arthur W. Saha , Wollheim also edited and published the popular "Annual World's Best Science Fiction" anthology from 1971 until his death. Algis Budrys in 1966 gave Wollheim
1648-404: A promotion to professor of immunochemistry , Boyd reached out to Asimov, requesting him to be his replacement. The initial offer of professorship was withdrawn and Asimov was offered the position of instructor of biochemistry instead, which he accepted. He began work in 1949 with a $ 5,000 salary (equivalent to $ 64,000 in 2023), maintaining this position for several years. By 1952, however, he
1751-412: A pseudonym. When it nevertheless appeared under his own name, Asimov grew concerned that his doctoral examiners might think he wasn't taking science seriously. At the end of the examination, one evaluator turned to him, smiling, and said, "What can you tell us, Mr. Asimov, about the thermodynamic properties of the compound known as thiotimoline". Laughing hysterically with relief, Asimov had to be led out of
1854-646: A recommendation from Arthur Obermayer , Asimov's friend and a scientist on the U.S. missile defense project, Asimov was approached by DARPA to join Obermayer's team. Asimov declined on the grounds that his ability to write freely would be impaired should he receive classified information , but submitted a paper to DARPA titled "On Creativity" containing ideas on how government-based science projects could encourage team members to think more creatively. Asimov met his first wife, Gertrude Blugerman (May 16, 1917, Toronto , Canada – October 17, 1990, Boston , U.S. ), on
1957-516: A strong formative influence on Asimov and became a personal friend. By the end of the month, Asimov completed a second story, " Stowaway ". Campbell rejected it on July 22 but—in "the nicest possible letter you could imagine"—encouraged him to continue writing, promising that Asimov might sell his work after another year and a dozen stories of practice. On October 21, 1938, he sold the third story he finished, " Marooned Off Vesta ", to Amazing Stories , edited by Raymond A. Palmer , and it appeared in
2060-464: A used typewriter at age 16. His first published work was a humorous item on the birth of his brother for Boys High School's literary journal in 1934. In May 1937 he first thought of writing professionally, and began writing his first science fiction story, "Cosmic Corkscrew" (now lost), that year. On May 17, 1938, puzzled by a change in the schedule of Astounding Science Fiction , Asimov visited its publisher Street & Smith Publications . Inspired by
2163-443: A year. He expected to make chemistry his career, and was paid $ 2,600 annually at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, enough to marry his girlfriend; he did not expect to make much more from writing than the $ 1,788.50 he had earned from the 28 stories he had already sold over four years. Asimov left science fiction fandom and no longer read new magazines, and might have left the writing profession had not Heinlein and de Camp been his coworkers at
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#17331143019452266-452: Is evidence that this last was originally intended to be the first issue of a new magazine. Between 1947 and 1951 he was editor at the pioneering paperback publisher Avon Books , where he made available highly affordable editions of the works of A. Merritt , H. P. Lovecraft , and C. S. Lewis ' Silent Planet space trilogy, bringing these previously little known authors a wide readership. During this period he also edited eighteen issues of
2369-520: Is my compulsion to write ... That means that my idea of a pleasant time is to go up to my attic, sit at my electric typewriter (as I am doing right now), and bang away, watching the words take shape like magic before my eyes. Asimov's career can be divided into several periods. His early career, dominated by science fiction, began with short stories in 1939 and novels in 1950. This lasted until about 1958, all but ending after publication of The Naked Sun (1957). He began publishing nonfiction as co-author of
2472-568: Is the Foundation series, the first three books of which won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966. His other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series. The Galactic Empire novels are set in the much earlier history of the same fictional universe as the Foundation series. Later, with Foundation and Earth (1986), he linked this distant future to
2575-516: The Humanist Manifesto . From 1985 until his death in 1992, he served as honorary president of the AHA, and was succeeded by his friend and fellow writer Kurt Vonnegut . He was also a close friend of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry , and earned a screen credit as "special science consultant" on Star Trek: The Motion Picture for his advice during production. Asimov was a founding member of
2678-521: The Catskills of upstate New York . Carpenter, Humphrey , ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien : Revised and Expanded Edition . New York: Harper Collins . ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4 . Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( / ˈ æ z ɪ m ɒ v / AZ -ih-mov ; c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University . During his lifetime, Asimov
2781-555: The Columbia University School of General Studies ) in 1939. (In 1983, Dr. Robert Pollack (dean of Columbia College, 1982-1989) granted Asimov an honorary doctorate from Columbia College after requiring that Asimov place his foot in a bucket of water to pass the College's swimming requirement. ) After two rounds of rejections by medical schools, Asimov applied to the graduate program in chemistry at Columbia in 1939; initially he
2884-582: The Futurians , he was a leading influence on science fiction development and fandom in the 20th-century United States. Ursula K. Le Guin called Wollheim "the tough, reliable editor of Ace Books , in the Late Pulpalignean Era, 1966 and '67", which is when he published her first two novels in Ace Double editions. The 1979 first edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction calls Wollheim "one of
2987-534: The Latin alphabet , Asimov's father spelled it with an S, believing this letter to be pronounced like Z (as in German), and so it became Asimov. This later inspired one of Asimov's short stories, " Spell My Name with an S ". Asimov refused early suggestions of using a more common name as a pseudonym, believing that its recognizability helped his career. After becoming famous, he often met readers who believed that "Isaac Asimov"
3090-570: The Robot series, creating a unified " future history " for his works. He also wrote more than 380 short stories , including the social science fiction novelette " Nightfall ", which in 1964 was voted the best short science fiction story of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America . Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French. Most of his popular science books explain concepts in
3193-599: The SS ; France for a trip mostly devoted to lectures in London and Birmingham, though he also found time to visit Stonehenge and Shakespeare's birthplace. Asimov was a teetotaler . He was an able public speaker and was regularly invited to give talks about science in his distinct New York accent . He participated in many science fiction conventions , where he was friendly and approachable. He patiently answered tens of thousands of questions and other mail with postcards and
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3296-792: The Trap Door Spiders , which served as the basis of his fictional group of mystery solvers, the Black Widowers . He later used his essay on Moriarty's work as the basis for a Black Widowers story, " The Ultimate Crime ", which appeared in More Tales of the Black Widowers . In 1984, the American Humanist Association (AHA) named him the Humanist of the Year. He was one of the signers of
3399-463: The Upper West Side of Manhattan where he lived for the rest of his life. He began seeing Janet O. Jeppson , a psychiatrist and science-fiction writer, and married her on November 30, 1973, two weeks after his divorce from Gertrude. Asimov was a claustrophile : he enjoyed small, enclosed spaces. In the third volume of his autobiography, he recalls a childhood desire to own a magazine stand in
3502-575: The Walnut Hill section of West Philadelphia . In September 1945, he was conscripted into the post-war U.S. Army ; if he had not had his birth date corrected while at school, he would have been officially 26 years old and ineligible. In 1946, a bureaucratic error caused his military allotment to be stopped, and he was removed from a task force days before it sailed to participate in Operation Crossroads nuclear weapons tests at Bikini Atoll . He
3605-615: The Wendell Urth mystery stories and the Robot novels featuring Elijah Baley . In his later years, Asimov found enjoyment traveling on cruise ships , beginning in 1972 when he viewed the Apollo 17 launch from a cruise ship . On several cruises, he was part of the entertainment program, giving science-themed talks aboard ships such as the Queen Elizabeth 2 . He sailed to England in June 1974 on
3708-584: The anti-AIDS prejudice might extend to his family members. He died in Manhattan on April 6, 1992, and was cremated. The cause of death was reported as heart and kidney failure . Ten years following Asimov's death, Janet and Robyn Asimov agreed that the HIV story should be made public; Janet revealed it in her edition of his autobiography, It's Been a Good Life . [T]he only thing about myself that I consider to be severe enough to warrant psychoanalytic treatment
3811-437: The comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan . Many of his short stories mention or quote Gilbert and Sullivan. He was a prominent member of The Baker Street Irregulars , the leading Sherlock Holmes society, for whom he wrote an essay arguing that Professor Moriarty's work "The Dynamics of An Asteroid" involved the willful destruction of an ancient, civilized planet. He was also a member of the male-only literary banqueting club
3914-519: The pulp magazines sold in his family's candy store. At first his father forbade reading pulps until Asimov persuaded him that because the science fiction magazines had "Science" in the title, they must be educational. At age 18 he joined the Futurians science fiction fan club , where he made friends who went on to become science fiction writers or editors. Asimov began writing at the age of 11, imitating The Rover Boys with eight chapters of The Greenville Chums at College . His father bought him
4017-411: The second grade ). His mother got him into first grade a year early by claiming he was born on September 7, 1919. In third grade he learned about the "error" and insisted on an official correction of the date to January 2. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1928 at the age of eight. After becoming established in the U.S., his parents owned a succession of candy stores in which everyone in
4120-418: The 100s category, but none of his own books were classified in that category. According to UNESCO 's Index Translationum database , Asimov is the world's 24th-most-translated author. No matter how various the subject matter I write on, I was a science-fiction writer first and it is as a science-fiction writer that I want to be identified. Asimov became a science fiction fan in 1929, when he began reading
4223-467: The 1975 World Fantasy Convention. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 2002, its seventh class of two deceased and two living persons. He is the third person inducted primarily for his work as editor or publisher, after the inaugural 1996 pair Hugo Gernsback and John W. Campbell . Source: Wollheim also actively practiced cross-dressing as a woman throughout his life, and he regularly attended events at Casa Susanna in
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4326-680: The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, CSICOP (now the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry ) and is listed in its Pantheon of Skeptics. In a discussion with James Randi at CSICon 2016 regarding the founding of CSICOP, Kendrick Frazier said that Asimov was "a key figure in the Skeptical movement who is less well known and appreciated today, but was very much in
4429-495: The FAPA." In 1938, with several friends, he formed the Futurians —arguably the best-known of the science fiction clubs. At one time or another, the membership included Isaac Asimov , Frederik Pohl , Cyril Kornbluth , James Blish , John Michel , Judith Merril , Robert A. W. Lowndes , Richard Wilson , Damon Knight , Virginia Kidd , and Larry T. Shaw . In 1943 Wollheim married fellow Futurian Elsie Balter (1910–1996). It proved to be
4532-730: The March 1939 issue. Asimov was paid $ 64 (equivalent to $ 1,385 in 2023), or one cent a word. Two more stories appeared that year, " The Weapon Too Dreadful to Use " in the May Amazing and " Trends " in the July Astounding , the issue fans later selected as the start of the Golden Age of Science Fiction . For 1940, ISFDB catalogs seven stories in four different pulp magazines, including one in Astounding . His earnings became enough to pay for his education, but not yet enough for him to become
4635-508: The Mighty Fallen (1974), owing to its homosexual content, Wollheim fought vigorously against their decision, and they relented. His later author discoveries included Tanith Lee , Jennifer Roberson , Michael Shea , Tad Williams , Celia S. Friedman , and C. J. Cherryh , whose Downbelow Station (1982) was the first DAW book to win the Hugo Award for best novel. He was also able to give
4738-512: The Navy Yard and previously sold stories continued to appear. In 1942, Asimov published the first of his Foundation stories—later collected in the Foundation trilogy : Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952), and Second Foundation (1953). The books describe the fall of a vast interstellar empire and the establishment of its eventual successor. They feature his fictional science of psychohistory , whose theories could predict
4841-456: The Rings in three volumes. It was the first mass-market paperback edition of Tolkien's epic. Wollheim did not consider himself a fantasy fan. In a 2006 interview his daughter, Betsy Wollheim, said: When he called up Professor Tolkien in 1964 and asked if he could publish Lord of the Rings as Ace paperbacks, Tolkien said he would never allow his great works to appear in so 'degenerate a form' as
4944-458: The Rings was then published in November, 1965. Ace subsequently agreed to cease publishing the unauthorized edition and to pay Tolkien for their sales following a grassroots campaign by Tolkien's U.S. fans. A 1993 court determined that the copyright loophole suggested by Ace Books was invalid and its paperback edition was found to have been a violation of copyright under U.S. law (at this time,
5047-573: The September 1935 issue. His third known story was published in Fanciful Tales of Time and Space , Fall 1936, a fanzine that he edited himself. That year he also published and edited another short-lived fanzine, Phantagraph . Wollheim's stories were published regularly from 1940; at the same time he was becoming an important editor. In the 1950s and 60s he wrote chiefly novels. He usually used pseudonyms for works aimed at grownups, and wrote children's novels under his own name. Notable and popular were
5150-637: The U.S. had yet to join the International Copyright Convention , and most laws on the books existed to protect domestic creations from foreign infringement. Houghton Mifflin was technically in violation of the law when they exceeded their import limits and failed to renew their interim copyright). In the Locus obituary for Donald Wollheim, however, more details emerge: Houghton-Mifflin had imported sheets instead of printing their own edition, but they didn't want to sell paperback rights. Ace printed
5253-641: The United States via Liverpool on the RMS Baltic , arriving on February 3, 1923 when he was three years old. His parents spoke Yiddish and English to him; he never learned Russian , his parents using it as a secret language "when they wanted to discuss something privately that my big ears were not to hear". Growing up in Brooklyn , New York , Asimov taught himself to read at the age of five (and later taught his sister to read as well, enabling her to enter school in
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#17331143019455356-467: The United States. So, incensed by Tolkien's response, he realized that he could legally publish them and did. This brash action (which ultimately benefited his primary competitors) was really the Big Bang that founded the modern fantasy field, and only someone like my father could have done that. He did pay Tolkien, and he was responsible for making not only Tolkien but Ballantine Books extremely wealthy. He
5459-487: The academically qualified Jewish and Italian-American students who applied to the more prestigious Columbia College , but exceeded the unwritten ethnic admission quotas which were common at the time. Originally a zoology major, Asimov switched to chemistry after his first semester because he disapproved of "dissecting an alley cat". After Seth Low Junior College closed in 1936, Asimov finished his Bachelor of Science degree at Columbia's Morningside Heights campus (later
5562-445: The blessing of, or at the request of, Asimov's widow, Janet Asimov . In 1948, he also wrote a spoof chemistry article , " The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline ". At the time, Asimov was preparing his own doctoral dissertation , which would include an oral examination. Fearing a prejudicial reaction from his graduate school evaluation board at Columbia University , Asimov asked his editor that it be released under
5665-448: The circumstances: Unfortunately, when Wyn died [in 1968] the company was sold to a consortium headed by a bank. ... Few of them had any publishing experience before they found themselves running Ace. It showed. Before long, bills weren't being paid, authors' advances and royalties were delayed, budgets were cut back, and most of Donald's time was spent trying to soothe authors and agents who were indignant, and had every right to be, at
5768-453: The contract. Jordan claimed that Wollheim's first, 'laudatory' letter convinced him that he could write, and so he chose to remember the first letter and forget about the second. The novel was never published, but Jordan went on to write the immensely successful The Wheel of Time series for a different publisher. Marion Zimmer Bradley referred to him as "a second father", Frederick Pohl called him "a founder", and Robert Silverberg says he
5871-797: The differences between Poul Anderson 's Ace novel War of the Wing-Men and its definitive revised edition, The Man Who Counts . Among the authors who made their paperback debuts in Ace Doubles were Philip K. Dick , Samuel R. Delany , Leigh Brackett , Ursula K. Le Guin , and John Brunner . William S. Burroughs ' first book, Junkie , was published as an Ace Double. Wollheim also helped develop Marion Zimmer Bradley , Robert Silverberg , Avram Davidson , Fritz Leiber , Andre Norton , Thomas Burnett Swann , Jack Vance , and Roger Zelazny , among others. While at Ace, he and co-editor Terry Carr began an annual anthology series, The World's Best Science Fiction ,
5974-647: The eight "Mike Mars" books for children, which explored different facets of the NASA space program. Also well-received were the "Secret" books for young readers: The Secret of Saturn's Rings (1954), Secret of the Martian Moons (1955), and The Secret of the Ninth Planet (1959). As Martin Pearson he published the "Ajax Calkins" series, which became the basis for his novel Destiny's Orbit (1962). A sequel, Destination: Saturn
6077-400: The family was expected to work. The candy stores sold newspapers and magazines, which Asimov credited as a major influence in his lifelong love of the written word, as it presented him as a child with an unending supply of new reading material (including pulp science fiction magazines ) that he could not have otherwise afforded. Asimov began reading science fiction at age nine, at the time that
6180-419: The first and most vociferous SF fans." He published numerous fanzines and co-edited the early Fanciful Tales of Time and Space . His importance to early fandom is chronicled in the 1974 book The Immortal Storm by Sam Moskowitz and in the 1977 book The Futurians by Damon Knight. Wollheim organized an event later considered the first American science fiction convention, when a group from New York met with
6283-472: The first collection of what they considered the best of the prior year's short stories, from magazines, hardcovers, paperback collections and other anthologies. In the early 1960s Ace reintroduced Edgar Rice Burroughs' work, which had long been out of print, and in 1965, Ace bought the paperback rights to Dune (Herbert's title worried Wollheim, who feared it would be mistaken for a western). Eventually, Ace introduced single paperback books and became one of
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#17331143019456386-450: The first paperback edition and caused such a furor that Tolkien rewrote the books enough to get a new copyright, then sold them to Ballantine. The rest is history. Although Ace and Wollheim have become the villains in the Tolkien publishing gospel, it's probable that the whole Tolkien boom would not have happened if Ace hadn't published them. Wollheim left Ace in 1971. Frederik Pohl describes
6489-409: The first printing of Robert E. Howard 's poem "Solomon Kane's Homecoming". Other authors included David H. Keller , August Derleth , Duane Rimel, William S. Sykora, Kenneth Pritchard, and Wollheim himself. Wollheim had planned a second issue, and the first issue announced future stories by Ralph Milne Farley , Robert Bloch , and J. Harvey Haggard, but the expense, and Shepard's loss of interest in
6592-635: The first story he sold to Gernsback, Wollheim formed a group with several other authors, and successfully sued for payment. He was expelled from the Science Fiction League as "a disruptive influence" but was later reinstated. From the September 1935 issue of Gernsback's Wonder Stories : THREE MEMBERS EXPELLED It grieves us to announce that we have found the first disloyalty in our organization... These members we expelled on June 12th. Their names are Donald A. Wollheim, John B. Michel, and William S. Sykora—three active fans who just got themselves onto
6695-508: The first-season episode " Datalore " called the positronic brain "Asimov's dream". Asimov was so prolific and diverse in his writing that his books span all major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification except for category 100, philosophy and psychology . However, he wrote several essays about psychology, and forewords for the books The Humanist Way (1988) and In Pursuit of Truth (1982), which were classified in
6798-567: The future course of history according to dynamical laws regarding the statistical analysis of mass human actions. Campbell raised his rate per word, Orson Welles purchased rights to " Evidence ", and anthologies reprinted his stories. By the end of the war Asimov was earning as a writer an amount equal to half of his Navy Yard salary, even after a raise, but Asimov still did not believe that writing could support him, his wife, and future children. His "positronic" robot stories —many of which were collected in I, Robot (1950)—were begun at about
6901-659: The genre was becoming more science-centered. Asimov was also a frequent patron of the Brooklyn Public Library during his formative years. Asimov attended New York City public schools from age five, including Boys High School in Brooklyn . Graduating at 15, he attended the City College of New York for several days before accepting a scholarship at Seth Low Junior College . This was a branch of Columbia University in Downtown Brooklyn designed to absorb some of
7004-576: The influential Avon Fantasy Reader as well as three of the Avon Science Fiction Reader . These periodicals contained mostly reprints and a few original stories. In 1952 Wollheim left Avon to work for A. A. Wyn at the Ace Magazine Company and spearheaded a new paperback book list, Ace Books . In 1953 he introduced science fiction to the Ace lineup, and for 20 years as editor-in-chief
7107-579: The magazines were successful. He approached some of his fellow Futurians for free stories (some published under pseudonyms to protect their reputations with paying editors). It resulted in Wollheim's editing two of the earliest periodicals devoted to science fiction, the Cosmic Stories and Stirring Science Stories magazines starting in February 1941. After the magazines were cancelled later in 1941, Wollheim
7210-457: The paperback book. Don was one of the fathers of the entire paperback industry, since before he spearheaded the Ace line he was the originating editor-in-chief of the Avon paperback list in 1945, so he took this personally. He was very offended. He did a little research and discovered a loophole in the copyright. Houghton Mifflin, Tolkien's American hardcover publisher, had neglected to protect the work in
7313-408: The preeminent genre publishers. Ace and Ballantine dominated sf in the 1960s and built the genre by publishing original material as well as reprints. Prior to the 1960s, no large American paperback publisher would publish fantasy. It was believed that there was no public demand for it and that it would not sell. Wollheim published an unauthorized paperback edition of J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of
7416-689: The project, meant that no more issues appeared. The publishers were Donald Wollheim and Wilson Shepherd; Shepherd printed the magazine in Oakman, Alabama, and Wollheim was the editor. The magazine was in digest format, 48 pages, and was priced at 20 cents. There was only one issue, dated Fall 1936. Donald A. Wollheim Donald Allen Wollheim (October 1, 1914 – November 2, 1990) was an American science fiction editor , publisher, writer , and fan . As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell , Martin Pearson , and Darrell G. Raynor . A founding member of
7519-661: The public eye back then." He said that Asimov's being associated with CSICOP "gave it immense status and authority" in his eyes. Asimov described Carl Sagan as one of only two people he ever met whose intellect surpassed his own. The other, he claimed, was the computer scientist and artificial intelligence expert Marvin Minsky . Asimov was an on-and-off member and honorary vice president of Mensa International , albeit reluctantly; he described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs". After his father died in 1969, Asimov annually contributed to
7622-435: The publication of Foundation's Edge . From then until his death, Asimov published several more sequels and prequels to his existing novels, tying them together in a way he had not originally anticipated, making a unified series. There are many inconsistencies in this unification, especially in his earlier stories. Doubleday and Houghton Mifflin published about 60% of his work up to 1969, Asimov stating that "both represent
7725-412: The room. After a five-minute wait, he was summoned back into the room and congratulated as "Dr. Asimov". Demand for science fiction greatly increased during the 1950s, making it possible for a genre author to write full-time. In 1949, book publisher Doubleday 's science fiction editor Walter I. Bradbury accepted Asimov's unpublished "Grow Old with Me" (40,000 words), but requested that it be extended to
7828-401: The same time. They promulgated a set of rules of ethics for robots (see Three Laws of Robotics ) and intelligent machines that greatly influenced other writers and thinkers in their treatment of the subject. Asimov notes in his introduction to the short story collection The Complete Robot (1982) that he was largely inspired by the tendency of robots up to that time to fall consistently into
7931-539: The story, and when he learned that other authors had not been paid either, he said so in the Bulletin of the Terrestrial Fantascience Guild. Publisher Hugo Gernsback eventually settled with Wollheim and the other authors out of court for $ 75. However, when Wollheim submitted another story ("The Space Lens") under the pseudonym Millard Verne Gordon, he was once again cheated by Gernsback who published it in
8034-410: The term "robotics" without suspecting that it might be an original word; at the time, he believed it was simply the natural analogue of words such as mechanics and hydraulics , but for robots . Unlike his word "psychohistory", the word "robotics" continues in mainstream technical use with Asimov's original definition. Star Trek: The Next Generation featured androids with " positronic brains " and
8137-470: The title. It included works by Robert A. Heinlein , Theodore Sturgeon , T. S. Stribling , Stephen Vincent Benét , Ambrose Bierce , and H. G. Wells . In 1945 Wollheim edited the first hardcover anthology from a major publisher and the first omnibus, The Viking Portable Novels of Science . He also edited the first anthology of original science fiction, The Girl With the Hungry Eyes (1947), although there
8240-526: The two h's and say it again and you have Asimov. Asimov's family name derives from the first part of озимый хлеб ( ozímyj khleb ), meaning ' winter grain ' (specifically rye ) in which his great-great-great-grandfather dealt, with the Russian surname ending -ov added. Azimov is spelled Азимов in the Cyrillic alphabet . When the family arrived in the United States in 1923 and their name had to be spelled in
8343-406: The university that he would keep his title and give the opening lecture each year for a biochemistry class. On October 18, 1979, the university honored his writing by promoting him to full professor of biochemistry. Asimov's personal papers from 1965 onward are archived at the university's Mugar Memorial Library , to which he donated them at the request of curator Howard Gotlieb. In 1959, after
8446-482: The visit, he finished the story on June 19, 1938, and personally submitted it to Astounding editor John W. Campbell two days later. Campbell met with Asimov for more than an hour and promised to read the story himself. Two days later he received a detailed rejection letter. This was the first of what became almost weekly meetings with the editor while Asimov lived in New York, until moving to Boston in 1949; Campbell had
8549-731: The way they were treated. Upon leaving Ace, he and his wife, Elsie Balter Wollheim, founded DAW Books , which he named for his initials. DAW can claim to be the first mass market specialist science fiction and fantasy fiction publishing house. DAW issued its first four titles in April 1972. Most of the writers whom he had developed at Ace went with him to DAW: Marion Zimmer Bradley, Andre Norton, Philip K. Dick, John Brunner, A. Bertram Chandler , Kenneth Bulmer , Gordon R. Dickson , A. E. van Vogt , and Jack Vance . In later years, when his distributor, New American Library , threatened to withhold Thomas Burnett Swann 's Biblical historical fantasy How Are
8652-399: The whole post-Tolkien boom in fantasy fiction." In late 1940, Wollheim noticed a new magazine titled Stirring Detective and Western Stories on the newsstands. He wrote to the publishers, Albing Publications, to see if they were interested in adding a science fiction title to their list, and he was invited to meet them. They did not have capital, however, and only guaranteed him a salary if
8755-506: The world of science fiction became aware that I existed. As the years passed, in fact, it became evident that I had written a 'classic'." "Nightfall" is an archetypal example of social science fiction , a term he created to describe a new trend in the 1940s, led by authors including him and Heinlein, away from gadgets and space opera and toward speculation about the human condition . After writing " Victory Unintentional " in January and February 1942, Asimov did not write another story for
8858-488: The wrong road. In 1937 Wollheim founded the Fantasy Amateur Press Association , whose first mailing (July 1937) included this statement from him: "There are many fans desiring to put out a voice who dare not, for fear of being obliged to keep it up, and for the worry and time taken by subscriptions and advertising. It is for them and for the fan who admits it is his hobby and not his business that we formed
8961-615: Was promoted to corporal on July 11 before receiving an honorable discharge on July 26, 1946. After completing his doctorate and a postdoctoral year with Robert Elderfield , Asimov was offered the position of associate professor of biochemistry at the Boston University School of Medicine . This was in large part due to his years-long correspondence with William Boyd , a former associate professor of biochemistry at Boston University, who initially contacted Asimov to compliment him on his story Nightfall . Upon receiving
9064-438: Was "seriously underrated" and "one of the great shapers of science-fiction publishing in the United States". In 1977 scholar Robert Scholes named Wollheim "one of the most important editors and publishers of science fiction." From 1975 on, Wollheim received several special awards for his contributions to science fiction and to fantasy, including one at the 1975 World SF Convention and runner-up to Ian & Betty Ballantine at
9167-545: Was a distinctive pseudonym created by an author with a common name. Asimov was born in Petrovichi , Russian SFSR , on an unknown date between October 4, 1919, and January 2, 1920, inclusive. Asimov celebrated his birthday on January 2. Asimov's parents were Russian Jews , Anna Rachel (née Berman) and Judah Asimov, the son of a miller. He was named Isaac after his mother's father, Isaac Berman. Asimov wrote of his father, "My father, for all his education as an Orthodox Jew ,
9270-420: Was able to find another publisher, Manhattan Fiction Publications, and a fourth issue of Stirring appeared, dated March 1942. Wartime constraints prevented ongoing publication, and there were no more issues of either title. Wollheim edited the first science fiction anthology to be mass-marketed, The Pocket Book of Science Fiction (1943). It was also the first book containing the words "science fiction" in
9373-706: Was adapted into the 1999 movie Bicentennial Man , starring Robin Williams . In 1966 the Foundation trilogy won the Hugo Award for the all-time best series of science fiction and fantasy novels, and they along with the Robot series are his most famous science fiction. Besides movies, his Foundation and Robot stories have inspired other derivative works of science fiction literature, many by well-known and established authors such as Roger MacBride Allen , Greg Bear , Gregory Benford , David Brin , and Donald Kingsbury . At least some of these appear to have been done with
9476-422: Was based on an unrelated script by Jeff Vintar titled Hardwired , with Asimov's ideas incorporated later after the rights to Asimov's title were acquired. (The title was not original to Asimov but had previously been used for a story by Eando Binder .) Also, one of Asimov's robot short stories, " The Bicentennial Man ", was expanded into a novel The Positronic Man by Asimov and Robert Silverberg , and this
9579-550: Was bitter about that, and frankly that's probably why he never got the Hugo he wanted. But if he hadn't done it, who knows when — or if — those books would have been published in paperback? This account was disputed by Tolkien, who claimed that he never received any communication from Ace prior to publication of their version. In any case, Tolkien had previously authorized paperback editions of The Hobbit and Tree and Leaf . The authorized Ballantine paperback edition of The Lord of
9682-410: Was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke . A prolific writer, he wrote or edited more than 500 books. He also wrote an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards . Best known for his hard science fiction , Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy , as well as popular science and other non-fiction . Asimov's most famous work
9785-422: Was fair to middling at best. He always knew that his great talent was as an editor." Robert Silverberg said that Wollheim was "one of the most significant figures in 20th century American science fiction publishing," adding, "A plausible case could be made that he was the most significant figure—responsible in large measure for the development of the science fiction paperback, the science fiction anthology, and
9888-400: Was making more money as a writer than from the university, and he eventually stopped doing research, confining his university role to lecturing students. In 1955, he was promoted to tenured associate professor. In December 1957, Asimov was dismissed from his teaching post, with effect from June 30, 1958, due to his lack of research. After a struggle over two years, he reached an agreement with
9991-568: Was not Orthodox in his heart", noting that "he didn't recite the myriad prayers prescribed for every action , and he never made any attempt to teach them to me." In 1921, Asimov and 16 other children in Petrovichi developed double pneumonia . Only Asimov survived. He had two younger siblings: a sister, Marcia (born Manya; June 17, 1922 – April 2, 2011), and a brother, Stanley (July 25, 1929 – August 16, 1995), who would become vice-president of Newsday . Asimov's family travelled to
10094-539: Was not published (except for two "special cases" ). By 1941 Asimov was famous enough that Donald Wollheim told him that he purchased " The Secret Sense " for a new magazine only because of his name, and the December 1940 issue of Astonishing —featuring Asimov's name in bold—was the first magazine to base cover art on his work, but Asimov later said that neither he nor anyone else—except perhaps Campbell—considered him better than an often published "third rater". Based on
10197-566: Was pleased to give autographs. He was of medium height, 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) and stocky build. In his later years, he adopted a signature style of "mutton-chop" sideburns . He took to wearing bolo ties after his wife Janet objected to his clip-on bow ties. He never learned to swim or ride a bicycle, but did learn to drive a car after he moved to Boston. In his humor book Asimov Laughs Again , he describes Boston driving as "anarchy on wheels". Asimov's wide interests included his participation in later years in organizations devoted to
10300-473: Was published in 1967 in collaboration with Lin Carter . The Universe Makers (1971) is a discussion of themes and philosophy in science fiction. One of Wollheim's short stories, "Mimic", was made into the film of the same name by director and co-writer Guillermo del Toro , released in 1997. His daughter Betsy declared: "In true editorial fashion, he was honest about the quality of his own writing. He felt it
10403-520: Was rejected and then only accepted on a probationary basis. He completed his Master of Arts degree in chemistry in 1941 and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemistry in 1948. During his chemistry studies, he also learned French and German. From 1942 to 1945 during World War II , between his masters and doctoral studies, Asimov worked as a civilian chemist at the Philadelphia Navy Yard 's Naval Air Experimental Station and lived in
10506-472: Was responsible for their multi-genre list and, most important to him, their renowned sf list. Wollheim invented the Ace Doubles series which consisted of pairs of books, usually by different authors, bound back-to-back with two "front" covers. Because these paired books had to fit a fixed total page length, one or both were usually abridged to fit, and Wollheim often made other editorial alterations—as witness
10609-427: Was the president of the American Humanist Association . Several entities have been named in his honor, including the asteroid (5020) Asimov , a crater on Mars , a Brooklyn elementary school, Honda 's humanoid robot ASIMO , and four literary awards . There are three very simple English words: 'Has', 'him' and 'of'. Put them together like this—'has-him-of'—and say it in the ordinary fashion. Now leave out
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