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Feb. 2, 2007
The seer and the scene
Science-fiction writer monitored human reactions.
EUGENE KAELLIS
When Isaac Asimov died in 1992 at the age of 72, he was unquestionably
the most famous and successful science fiction writer ever. He produced
sci-fi in the form of novels and short stories, but his writing
talents didn't stop there.
He was the author of a biographical encyclopedia of science, technology
and mathematics for young people, major narrative historical works
and a guide to the Bible. For 10 years, while Asimov was turning
out all this literature, he was also on the faculty of Boston University
Medical College, teaching biochemistry and collaborating in writing
biochemistry texts for medical students.
Asimov claimed that his huge output resulted from "some inner
compulsion" that forced him daily to type from 2,000 to 4,000
words that were then subjected to only minor revisions before being
sent to a waiting and eager publisher. As with other prolific authors,
for him it was easier to write than not to write.
Asimov was born in Petrovichi, Russia, in 1920. When he was three,
his family moved to the United States, settling in a Jewish section
of Brooklyn. He was a brilliant student, graduating from Columbia
University with a bachelor of science degree when he was 19. After
a stint in the army during the Second World War, he returned to
graduate school at Columbia, received a PhD and then joined Boston
University.
Asimov, in his youth a strikingly good-looking man, married Gertrude
Blugerman in 1942. They had two children. Most of his gigantic output
was produced in the attic of their house in a suburb of Boston.
Not all of Asimov's books were based entirely on technology. Some
may be regarded as "sociological fiction," resembling,
for example, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
Sci-fi enjoys enormous popularity, particularly in North America.
Asimov published his first science fiction book in 1950; subsequent
volumes started coming at a dizzying rate. He is widely cited for
developing the "three laws of robotics" in his 1957 novel
The Naked Sun: a robot may not intentionally or neglectfully
harm a human being, a robot must obey the commands given to it unless
it causes harm to people and a robot must protect its existence,
as long as if does not violate the first two laws.
With all his imaginative ideas, Asimov never strayed far from the
path of conventional science, reflecting the beliefs of almost all
scientists, who are educated to master the area that interests them.
He extrapolated from reality and wrote in an interesting and exciting
way. His fans loved his novels dearly.
Asimov continued his education throughout his life, keeping abreast
of all scientific developments. Sometimes the irony of scholarship
is that you master it; then it masters you. It's only the truly
imaginative scientist who is bold and confident enough to challenge
long-held views. This is why science fiction is rarely ever more
than an imaginative extension of current science.
Asimov said that he did not "worry so much about scientific
gadgets as about the reactions of human beings in a scientifically
advanced society." In this sense, his work may be included
with the "social futurists," such as Franz Kafka, George
Orwell and Aldous Huxley. Asimov's future world, however, is not
nearly as grim as the worlds they created.
Eugene Kaellis is a retired academic living in New Westminster.
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