Isaac Asimov
AUTHOR

Isaac Asimov

Tap the gear icon above to manage new release emails.
Isaac Asimov (/ˈaɪzᵻk ˈæzᵻmɒv/; born Isaak Yudovich Ozimov; circa January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was prolific and wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. His books have been published in 9 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification. Asimov wrote hard science fiction and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, he was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers during his lifetime. Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series; his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series. The Galactic Empire novels are explicitly set in earlier history of the same fictional universe as the Foundation series. Later, beginning with Foundation's Edge, he linked this distant future to the Robot and Spacer stories, creating a unified "future history" for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson. He wrote hundreds of short stories, including the social science fiction "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America the best short science fiction story of all time. Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French. Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as much nonfiction. Most of his popular science books explain scientific concepts in a historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage. He often provides nationalities, birth dates, and death dates for the scientists he mentions, as well as etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Examples include Guide to Science, the three-volume set Understanding Physics, and Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery, as well as works on astronomy, mathematics, history, William Shakespeare's writing, and chemistry. Asimov was a long-time member and vice president of Mensa International, albeit reluctantly; he described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs". He took more joy in being president of the American Humanist Association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, a crater on the planet Mars, a Brooklyn elementary school, and a literary award are named in his honor. Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Phillip Leonian from New York World-Telegram & Sun [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
Read more Read less
You're getting a free audiobook


You're getting a free audiobook.

$14.95 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Try for $0.00

The Classic Collection of Isaac Asimov. Sci-Fi stories

New release
View Details

Featured Article: The top 100 classics of all time


Before we whipped out our old high school syllabi and dug deep into our libraries to start selecting contenders for this list, we first had to answer the question, "How do we define a classic?" The answer isn’t as straightforward as you might guess, though there’s a lot to be said for the old adage, "You know it when you see it" (or, in this case, hear it). Of course, most critically, each of our picks had to be fabulous in audio. So dust off your aspirational listening list—we have some amazing additions you don’t want to miss.

Featured Article The top 100 classics of all time

Best Sellers

Product List
  • Foundation (Apple Series Tie-in Edition) Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $18.00

    Try for $0.00
  • The Classic Collection of Isaac Asimov. Sci-Fi stories Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $4.89

    Try for $0.00
  • Robot Dreams Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $21.49

    Try for $0.00
  • Prelude to Foundation Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $20.25

    Try for $0.00
  • The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 1, 1929-1964 Audiobook By Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Robert S

    Regular price: $22.84

    Try for $0.00
  • The Ultimate Science Fiction Mega Collection: 24 of the Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time Audiobook By Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, E

    Regular price: $41.99

    Try for $0.00
  • I, Robot Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $17.50

    Try for $0.00
  • Forward the Foundation Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $22.50

    Try for $0.00
  • Foundation and Empire Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $18.00

    Try for $0.00
  • Second Foundation Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $18.00

    Try for $0.00
  • Foundation's Edge Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $21.60

    Try for $0.00
  • Robot Visions Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $25.79

    Try for $0.00
  • Great Radio Science Fiction Audiobook By Robert Heinlein, Arch Oboler, Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $31.18

    Try for $0.00
  • Nemesis Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    • Nemesis

    • A Novel
    • By: Isaac Asimov
    • Narrated by: Scott Brick
    • Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
    • Release date: 09-03-19
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,191 ratings

    Regular price: $20.25

    Try for $0.00
  • Trilogía de la Fundación [Foundation Trilogy] Audiobook By Isaac Asimov, Pilar Giralt Gorina cover art

    Regular price: $29.69

    Try for $0.00
  • Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy Audiobook By Arthur C. Clarke, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Ben Bova, Isaac Asimov, Greg Bear,

    Regular price: $17.47

    Try for $0.00
  • Isaac Asimov's Guide to Earth and Space Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $18.00

    Try for $0.00
  • Foundation and Earth Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $24.75

    Try for $0.00
  • Nightfall and Other Stories Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $22.50

    Try for $0.00
  • The Stars, Like Dust Audiobook By Isaac Asimov cover art

    Regular price: $24.67

    Try for $0.00

Are you an author?

Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography.
Visit Amazon Author Central