I read Asimov's Foundation trilogy ages ago, in my early twenties (I am in my late sixties now). I lost a lot of sleep, too eager to read just one more chapter before going to bed. Ten years later I was amazed when I found a book "Foundations of psychohistory". It had nothing to do with Asimov. Asimov was not only one of the greatest scifi writers, he actually predicted a real science that researches the effects of mass psychology and sociology on the evolution of society.
Good evening mister. I am In the early twenties, I almost finished most of the foundation saga. Very thankful toward Asimov for giving me back the joy of reading, finish a book and all the cerebral work around this amazing activity. This story taking place in a far far future learns me a lot about how our curent human work works. I can’t stop to read more of this writer or anyone who could learn me interesting things. I’m sure now I want to get as much knowledge as I can. (P.s. : Sorry for my grammar / syntax mistakes , I’m absolutely not English)
@@vivelegostarswars Et une très bonne soirée pour vous aussi. Your message seems to be directed at me, but I am not sure if you expect an answer from me. Cheers, Jan
i want to start this book bcoz elon musk suggested this in his one of his interviews,but i really don’t know how these sci fi novels shape our perspective towards world that’s why i lack motivation to read this,can anyone please tell me more about these kinds of novels so that i also enjoy the dopamine it provides.
Asimov was so great at writing novellas and short stories that would circle back to a planned shared world. It’s genius writing and way ahead of his time.
@@locutusdborg126 When these stories were published, they were originally in magazine short story format and Asimov was cranking them out month after month. When novel-size books became more popular in sci-fi, they packaged them all together. But Asimov was already seemingly aware that the trend would go that way, so his stories were already interlocked and flowed seamlessly as novels. I’m betting a lot of the magazine fans at the time didn’t even realize it as the mags were being published.
I seen other writers do that - it much easier then just writing huge books especially if you are starting out to be a writer without reputation. Shame that we don’t have more magazines around now that allow this these days
@@locutusdborg126It was actually a technique he developed in order to save time... Not having to create a complete lore for every new story has a tremendous impact on productivity...
In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker’s Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects. First, it is slightly cheaper; and second, it has the words "DON'T PANIC" inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.
Totally agree. Isaac Asimov was thinking about the consequences of any action and not the profit in real time. Plotting carefully the path and not walking in the dark till you fall. And when you are a leader of any kind, that fall is for every follower. He also understood very well the meaning of a chaotic system and how it would affect the universe. If only world governments were taking him really seriously...
But in the end his first solution was technically establishing a micro crontrolled society via second foundation without the knowledge of what is driving people. In his defence he did address it with sequels with Golan's dialogues as he is didn't find any solution to be the actual best, the man just wanted the freedom to choose for yourself.
Tell that to an empire that's lasted 10,000 years up until DOOM! We see from the future with 20/20 vision, THEY SAW Idiocy and The Boss kept saying "If it ain't broken you don't fix it!!!"
I read the whole series once every ten years, since I first read it in my teens. My 5th journey through the series is coming up soon, and I can't wait. These books are a true work of art.
My impression is the Apple+ Foundation doesn't follow anything as it relates to the original series other than it's Name but without creativity. True to the depressing age we live in the end product reflects a Woke feminist centric dystopian hollowed out shell of an existence full of violence which ruined the original authors vision. You know just like Star Trek but with better graphics. It's a shame, because I've wished for this epic tale to make it to the screen for decades. Its not enough to destroy our stability by propaganda indoctrinated education and give job production to foreign entities, our art literature and escapism must be systematically destroyed like Star Trek, Star Wars, MCU, Doctor Who and even comics/graphic novels. I'm now thankful that Disney choose not to pursue the completion of the Edgar Rice Burroughs of John Carter on Mars Series, because that would have been too heartbreaking.
@@dilbertjunkmail I completely agree. I watched 3 first chapters of the series and abandoned. Very good graphics, special effects, but is not Foundation, is something else. The good thing is, I took on the 3 novels and enjoyed them again like in my 20s. Now, I´m going for the pre and post sequels. About the feminism in the TV version, well, I´m a woman and I fully support women rights, but please, don´t turn the Fundation´s story upside down on the name of the "me-too". Besides, when finally feminin roles show up in the books, they are definitive: Bayta Darrell and her grand daughter Arcadia. Yes, it´s a shame, because the series could be something crazily followed for many seasons. As it is, I have big doubts. Will see.
@@mc2117ful Glad you agree but oddly enough we disagree in more. Art has provided an escape and positive image for distraction from reality since its inception. SciFy was always my preferred escape and the creativity employed in multitude of comics and books by authors was glorious. I'm seeing little creativity now but a lot of agenda in all video platforms. I had hope that someone (NOT Woke Disney) would respect an original authors hopeful vision for a future through the standard struggle through powers hungry corrupt leaders scenario (basic Foundation element). There is little legitimate escapism from the dystopian existence being forged by our socialist masters invading our lives through youthful indoctrination and universities. We watch our own history destroyed and purged in front of us daily. Most are too ignorant of classic history to understand the manipulation occurring in front of their lemming eyes. I've seen more future hope in Zombie series books and B rated movies then portrayed in modern drama. Every TV series is driven to elevate heroes or favorite characters then destroy them for maximum damage to audience psyche. Why wouldn't I expect the same roller coaster of misery to be portrayed in a beloved classic purchased by the money changers funding Apple TV foundation. The script writers are all now SJW Woke feminist that prefer heroine dominance over evil white male caricatures. I can predict the ending of Foundation because it's struggle portrayal has been fictionalized by feminism architects for decades now. Regarding your feminist roots, you have always been free, you still are and are beyond equal in any career you choose. Its sad that youth aren't even allowed the fictional hope from classic stories when portrayed on video because fewer are bothering to read these classics now. You do you, no man will interfere.
I feel that Asimov's greatest contribution is his non-fiction. He wrote hundreds of books on an insane variety of subjects in a way that made it accessible to people without a college degree. He literally educated the masses better than a lot of school systems at the time he wrote them. I own copies of the first editions of the first two volumes of his autobiography. The man had his faults. OMG, he had his faults.
I'm 60 years old and I grew up with my mom always reading sci-fi. The Foundation series is one of her favorites. She's 76 now and I don't think I have ever met anyone who's a fan of the Foundation series. I am going to get her to look at your channel. I know she's going to love it. She also loved the stainless steel rat. I am sure you are aware of it. Maybe a video on that would be great. Thanks 😊
I read a vast amount of scifi as a kid in the 60s and 70s, and Asimov's stories were some of the very best. The BBC also did a very enjoyable (and long!) radio adaptation of the Foundation stories in the 1970s.
Commenter: I guess you could say Isaac Asimov laid the FOUNDATION for modern science fiction! *Scrolls through comments and realizes 5784 commenters made the same pun*
Not only couldn't I beat Wade West to the 'foundation" pun, I couldn't even beat Justanotherconsumer to the inevitable "predictive computing" comeback. This is a dark day indeed.
@@mattlivingston2192 And when I first posted that the video was hours old with a few dozen comments... I'm playing the long game here. Sweet vindication will be mine in the Summer of 2023!!
I can remember coming home from work at a science lab on a Friday to a stack of paperback books by Issac Asimov which were already aged at the time.... This was in the early 1980s... No internet and no cell phones... Fantastic. A weekend full of adventure and ideas....
Sorry to say: the internet did exist, and so did mobile phones. The company I worked for used Proffs for email and our drivers had brick-sized mobile phones :-)
Correction at 0:25. Both the Foundation series (by Isaac Asimov) and the Lensman series (by EE Smith) were in the running for all-time best sci fi series Hugo award in 1966. Foundation won. Both laid out a vast galactic empire. Foundation was first published as a series of short stories and novellas in 1942-50. But the initial Lensman series (Galactic Patrol, Gray Lensman, Second Stage Lensmen, and Children of the Lens) was published between 1937 and 1948 in the magazine Astounding Stories. Therefore the honour of first series to showcase a “galactic empire” goes to Smith for his Lensman series.
This video just came up on my feed, I just paused at 0:35 to double check my facts before saying much the same thing. Personally I think the Lensman series is better, although perhaps hasn't aged as well.
A few months ago finished reading this series, with the Robot and Galactic Empire parts too. The extras give it depth, a feeling of "I was there". I recommend reading the whole thing, and for me was a greatly satisfying read. I think it lives the fame it has, no doubt.
I would add the 2nd trilogy. Foundations Fear, Foundation and Chaos, Foundation's Triumph. Written in the early 90's authourized by Janet Asimov. It includes modern concepts like computers, the internet and wormholes. It explains the back story of the Robots. Their civil war. How and why the galaxy is empty of alien life. It also makes cannon End of Eternity. Stating that if Eternity exists, mankind will go extinct. Only be destroying it, can the Empires exist. They are spread throughout the life of Hari Seldon. Before his arrival on Grantor, his time in the University, his time as First Minister and after the trial. A must read by excellent authors Gregory Benford, Greg Bear and David Brin.
@@deucalion4451 The four R Daneel Olivaw novels are what you need [1. The Caves of Steel, 2. The Naked Sun, 3. The Robots of Dawn, 4. Robots and Empire]. There is no need for the earlier stand-alone novels. Robot series is a bit of a misnomer, because they actually deal with the early colonization of the galaxy. The way they are tied into Foundation is pretty interesting.
In summary, I would recommend this as a list of core titles, which weave a great tapestry: - Robot 1: The Caves of Steel - Robot 2: The Naked Sun E - Robot 3: The Robots of Dawn - Robot 4: Robots and Empire - Foundation 1: Foundation - Foundation 2: Foundation and Empire - Foundation 3: Second Foundation - Foundation 4: Foundation's Edge - Foundation 5: Foundation and Earth
I remember reading The Foundation Trilogy as an assignment for the non-credit class "The Sciences in Fiction". I love it! Later the other Foundation books came out and I didn't love them or many of the following yearly offerings from Asimov at that time. Those stories have aged well and I have discovered a new appreciation for his work. The original trilogy is on a different level but his other stories are very good to great (imo). It appears that there is definetly going to be at least one season (10 episodes) of "Foundation" based on Asimov's writtings. I'm elated that the current generation will be exposed to Asimov's stories. Who knows how a young girl or boy may be inspired and what that may lead to?
I remember stumbling on the Foundation series in a used book shop back when there were plenty of those in Belfast and I didn't have regular enough internet access to find out what was a "must read". Those days were nice, just stumbling upon Foundation, Philip K Dick, Iain M Banks not realising where I was going.
Asimov is to Science Fiction as Tolkien is to Fantasy. Neither is the father of their genre however they are both guys who added immeasurably to the genre and have been copied innumerable times.
Thank you for this video. I first read the Foundation trilogy when I was about 12, in the mid-70's. I reread them again last year, and wow, are they ever great. Simple, yet so dense with possiblities to extrapolate your own ideas. I guess this is what people like Frank Herbert did.
Foundation is my favorite sci-fi work, but the most fun thing about Foundation is that, even though its a seminal mainstream science fiction classic, the story is plainly set in a space opera universe. As only one example, Asimov used a galactic empire, a concept created in the twenties by Edmond Hamilton (according to Asimov, his favorite writer in his youth). Also, the cars, guns, and general society use the concepts of space opera pulp stories by Hamilton, with a little Doc Smith, Henry Kuttner, and others thrown in as well. This makes the universe of Foundation instantly familiar to readers of pulps (or people who've seen movies like Star Wars that also draw from these pulps).
I read a lot of science fiction when I was a kid, but I don't think I ever read the Foundation series, I might check that out. This video made me realize how prolific a writer Asimov was. Think of it, died at age 72 with more than 500 books to his credit! The man was an absolute writing machine, and so much of it was and will continue to be influential to writers, thinkers and artists. What a legacy.
I read all his books, twice, once in the order they came out and a second time in the chronological order of the story. I'm including all stories and short stories from robots too so everythung makes sense as towards the end, he put them all in order and linked them so it all makes sense as a very long story. I have to say, it is amazing. One warning, you need to set your mind to remember that the older books were done over 60 years ago, so the narrative is different to the latest books and what many of us are used too in the presnt time, but still, it is amazing and i recommend it to everybody. My next step is going to be to listen to the audiobooks to relive the story again, and then, watch the series on TV.
I'm 67 years old and have read hundreds of Sci Fi books 📚. This set has been in my top 3 of all time, I've read the series 5 times, all 7 books are fantastic.
@@maruf7956 not the first two books, that's all I've read and I won't be getting the third. Foundation is light years better in scope and in characters.
@@Kenny-zv4pp For Sci-fi and high Theoretical Scientific content The Three Body Problem is Untouched. Dune and Foundation is kinda like game of throne in space. Many politics and character interactions. But the sheer Space Terror that gives In Dark Forst and mind bending concepts in Death's End is remarkable and makes the Three Body Problem Goated. But if you're a average joe and don't know much about science then it's understandable.
This show has amazing Universe visuals.. Planets with foreign skies… Love it. There beautiful. ❤ I’m half way through Season one and am already looking forward for Season 2.
As I recall, having read the series long ago, not only was the Encyclopedia a sham, so was the Foundation itself. The “real” preserver of human civilization was the Second Foundation, which also turns out to be a sham. Beyond that (and maybe even here) memory starts getting a bit murky, but doesn’t it end up that R. Daniel Oliva is the REAL architect of human civilization survival? I should dust these off and reread.
You're right about all of that, there's also a planet of humans with full group consciousness living as a super organism that has more influence than the second foundation. I believe R. Daniel is the one who created it though. I love how Asimov ended the series
Yes, R. Daniel was following his programming. He use the Zero Law of Robotic to shape humanity. He needed an unmodified human to make the final decision to continue with the creation of Gasia(correct name?).
Influential indeed. I can think of three Japanese works off the top of my head that we're clearly inspired by Asimov. Ghost in the Shell obviously, Psycho Pass and a part of a little known story called Kare Kano (or his and her circumstances). While there is an anime of that, it was never finished. So only the manga has the full robot play. The manga was a heavy psychological drama with humor to sugarcoat it. The studio wanted it to be more humor and less psychological.
About time ... I been waiting a long time for someone to screenplay one of the best sci fi novels ever written. It sure ain't easy bringing Asimov's work to the screen, kudos on the attempt it looks great visually.
Tim White's covers to Foundation are my favourites. The Bear, Brin and Benford "sequel" trilogy isn't bad and at least provided a good post "Foundation and Earth" conclusion (and explanation as to why the tech in Foundation seemed so anodyne)
I am an OLD student of Asminov's science fiction. I was so excited to learn that Apple TV was running a Foundation series. His daughter, Robyn from his first marriage, is one of producers and endorses the series. After watching two episodes, all I can say is WHY? I don't think anyone involved from is daughter to the writers has actually read any of the books. Their cliff notes version is just Hollywood done again and muddled the entire stories in all Foundation books. It's just another car chase/crash and sex. I wonder if Robyn was on good terms with her father or is it just the money. I think both. The sad part is that ppl don't read anymore. They rely of the screen versions for accuracy. They will never know the real stories of Foundation.
Yeeeeaaahh. I've so far watched the first three episodes. I'll say the production quality is great, but it has practically NOTHING to do with the books. They use some of the names of places and characters, but that's about it. I kind of want to keep watching out of morbid curiosity just to see what happens, but it's definitely not a show I could ever see myself re-visiting in the future.
TV is all business nowadays, and the Foundation books come from both a simpler and more upbeat time. When people trusted experts, science was celebrated, and there can be debate of ideas. Some of the Foundation's themes can be disturbing to the audience in this age. The trajectory is downwards and there's a feeling of inevitable decline, and people more and more look inward rather than out. So the end result is a risk-free soup of what people are familiar and comfortable with, whilst stroking some topical interests like a checklist.
I started reading this series when I was sophomore in highschool circa 2005. It really molded my interest in science fiction that a story could be this wide and fantastic. My geometry teacher saw the book on my desk and got this wide smile "are you just starting the series?!" And yeah. It's good
@@locutusdborg126 In pee-card's voice. "Spirituality as its Bean will Continue, never underestimate The human imagination and the hart, Resistants is futile".
Hey Quinn, You mentioned that there are prequels to Foundation. Having read them yourself, which order would you recommend? Also, which order did you experience them in? Cheers, M. Schneider
I would read the prequel dead last, they are the weeker of the bunch. I would go OG trilogy into Robots novels into Caves of Steel and the Naked Sun, then Empire Cycle (Tyrann etc...) then the last two Fondation, then Robots of Dawn and Robots and Empire and finally the prequel if you wish to.
After the 1st 4 and the robot and empire novels, then Foundation and Earth. Then.Prelude to Foundation, then Forward the foundation. ( chronological in universe) , then.the 2nd trilogy. Foundation's Fear, Foundation & chaos, Foundation's triumph. The non Asimov books that fill in the missing history lost to mankind.
Foundation was my introduction to Asimov, and is still probably my favourite sci-fi series of all time, damn I love those books! One small bugbear though, Star Wars isn't sci-fi.....it's fantasy in space. There is a big difference (at least in my reckoning).
I’ve been loving these videos! Also while waiting for the winds of winter to come out I’ve started reading the wheel of time series and I think you’d like it a lot. All of its lore and mysteries would also make for good videos
great video. i read Foundation trilogy over 20 years ago and didnt remember much today. and now i watched the show and was confused because things were different. thats why im here to check up some differences. my conclusion: i need to wait another 20 years to forget all about the books AND the show and then i read Foundation again when im retired. thats my personal psychohistory plan :)
Thanks for the review. It has been 40 years since I last read the series. I can't wait for the upcoming series in the next few weeks. I agree that Foundation is a highly influential scifi story but I think that Star Wars draws mostly from the movie serials like Flash Gordon and the John Carter of Mars books. In fact, when the John Carter movie came it many critics said it was a Star Wars rip-off!
Although Asimov's psycho-history was the first time I encountered the idea that large numbers of humans acted in predictable ways, his idea was certainly not the first. Another similar view was created by Prof. Alexander Tytler in the 1790s. He predicted that democracies would always go through a cycle. One of the steps in that cycle was the recognition by the citizens of a democracy that they could vote themselves money/freebies from the public treasury which would cause the democracy to go bankrupt and then collapse into totalitarianism. Seems to me we are well along that path.
When you read his short stories, you start to realise where the idea for Psychohistory came from, the way Powell and Donovan used to re-interpret programming as 'thoughts' or 'reasoning' in Runaround is a great example of how Asimov equated the two.
I like how hari seldon dies in like the first half of the first book, and is still one of the most importan, if not the most important character of the whole trilogy
As a sci-fi lover, I love the books. As someone that took a LOT of statistics in college, I truly loathe Psychohistory. It perpetuates the notion that probability is the same thing as empirical certainty. Even with large sample groups (values of n), outliers routinely occur.
Bredburry and Shekley are my favorite masters of the short stories for long cosmic ride... Azimov, Clarke and Simons. I find myself returning to those authors when i miss good sci fi work. And movies or series aint it. So shallow shows.
Why on Earth would anyone require to have this trilogy explained? I first read them over 50 years ago as a young teenager and understood the plot perfectly.
Re-reading the original trilogy and finally reading the other books has been part of my summer program. One thing I noticed is that Asimov appears to invent the idea of metadata as a basis for psychohistory.
I feel sorry for some of the people tasked with preserving all human knowledge….I mean imagine your division had to catalog TikTok archives….Sign me up for the cat meme scribe though.
Out of recently learning about this, the three body problem, and dune on your channel. This has me the most captivated, with the three body problem in close 2nd.
I know it's not really your genre specifically but you should read the "clan of the cave bear" 6 book series written by Jean Auel. It's a fabulous series and I've never heard ANYONE talk about it online at all. Anyway just a recommendation, I love your content
haha sounds like the narrator from 'things they dont want you to know' vids, haha love you guys of course you would do a vid on asimov, haha, happy holidays!
I believe, before starting the 7 books long Foundation Saga, one should first of all read the following books. Otherwise, one can never truly appreciate Asimov's work and genius: 1- Complete Robot 2- Caves of Steel 3- Naked Sun 4- Robots of Dawn 5- Robotd and Empire and then, comes the Foundation Saga. At the end, all are connected and entangled in between.
I'd read Caves of Steel & Naked Sun before the fourth and fifth books of Empire, and was excited by the prospect of a "shared universe" raised in "Foundation's Edge"... but I gotta say, I hated the way "Foundation & Earth" handled the integration of the two series.
Eh, that's true, but when he decided to intertwine the universe (starting, I believe with Foundation's Edge), it was kind of detriment. I can't really go into major details without major spoilers, but let's just say that the decisions he made towards the end of the Foundation saga kind of bring into question the point of everything. Still, Outstanding books though.
I started watching it in September 2023. I extremely love the show with all it's fantastic cast, all the wonderful and very creative/colorful CGI. The visual effects are incredible vivid and embracing. Jared Harris (Hari Seldon) is awe inspiring, very intriguing that drew me into this wonderful sci-fi saga from the very beginning. If you're reading this Jared Harris, i want to thank you wholeheartedly for your great performances. And of course, there's many more great actors in this show, omg. Lou Llobell (Gaal Dornick), Leah Harvey (Salvor Hardin), Lee Pace (Brother Day), Terrence Mann (Brother Dusk), Laura Birn (Demerzel), Kubra Sait (Phara), and many many more. I appreciate the nice change of pace from all the too familiar sci-fi franchises out there, lol, Thank you again, for we don't deserve all your wonderful works of passionate and artistic achievements.
Great summary, I'll recommend it to friends to introduce them to the series! I wonder if you're a fan of the Ender series, and would ever do a deep dive on some it's concepts and fictional technologies and ecologies.
My older brother was a serious scifi buff when I was a lad and he had these books. At the time, from reading the precis, I always thought they sounded incredibly dull... and judging by this explainer, I think I was right. Fair play for making the video though, I've liked it.
I read the original trilogy 50 years ago and recently re-read it. This time around I had more trouble accepting the stilted conversations, people using words and turns of phrase that no one uses in real life but that aside...... the series has almost NOTHING in common with the books. The names used are the same but the sexes were changed, there was only one Cleon and not a whole line of clones. The series just took the names and the basic premise of the books and spun a whole different story around them. Disappointing really.
I expect only ideas and messages to stay. It would be very hard to make a good show off most books otherwise. Specially since the foundation is a very not made for life action format book. It’s way more about ideas and concepts than characters and actions. Maybe a sci-if documentary could do it justice if you wanted a straight copy of the book in life action version.
You've earned my subscription. Your work on Dune drew me to your channel, but you're so diverse in your interests that it exposed me to the work of other authors. I wonder if your channel will ever expand into the universe of Warhammer 40k? I don't know much about it other than some videos I've seen on TH-cam but it seems like a story that might appeal to you
Im now getting back into this thanks to you, Quinn! I love your reactions and reviews of Dune 2021. You, Frank, and Issac all factor a bit in my own work.
The only issie I have with Asimov wonderful work is that he and many other Science Fiction writers expected robotics to evolve fast and telecommunications and electronics beat that by a lot. Robotics is still in its infancy and telecommunications is now extremely advanced. Asimov work seems to be losing the battle against time.
You're the best out here in these SciFi TH-cam streets and we know it. Keep doing you and stay lifted.... I am seeing the Algorithms working hard against you but F that!!!
I've never read Tolkein and I doubt if the Lord of the Rings could be read in a single day. Although Asimov is writing about space, robots etc. there's a lot of humanity and social comment in his work. Look at the Currents of Space which gives an unusual take on race relations and must have been quite controversial when it was published in 1952.
This nerd's plan after retiring from science teaching next year is to use my LLC called "Foundation Enterprises" (I like trek too) to build a real-life Foundation charter school, paralleling Asimov's vision, including ultimately reversing entropy. 1. Use profits from TSLA stock and reserved cybertruck robotaxis to fund. 2. Save knowledge hardcopies (wikipedia) and have survival prep against collapse training embedded (nukes, virus, asteroid, etc) in a curriculum that teaches game theory and mental tools (1st Foundation cover story). Invite others via channel uploads when ready. 3. Create, follow and revise the dynamic Seldon-esque begin-to-end of time plan (broad strokes done by Asimov), not letting morality get in the way of doing what is right. 4. Fund "Foundation University" which focuses on genetics and robotics (3 laws), and be involved with the Brain Preservation Society's work using glutaraldehyde to cryonically preserve synapses. Also set up matchmaking service with China to get nerds' wives (my wife's from Shanghai, no US woman I've met irl would ever agree to this plan). 5. Community gets revived near Starbase, TX, the intellectual opposite end of the world, and works on Intergalactic expansion, solving entropy, and enjoying 40th-century near-immortal life infused w/ altruistic AI. Why? It's the least I can do to thank Asimov for organizing my thoughts in a myopic world of cra-cra egoism.
Y do people say that other things would've never have happened without this or that. It is unknowable whether something would've been created without this first thing. Foundation is one of the greatest pieces of science fiction. Ideas come from obscure places. I enjoyed the video Quinn.
Asimov really painted himself into a corner in his explanation for the absence of aliens. First there was a vague reference to robotic Terra forming ships that destroyed whatever ecosystems a planet had. Finally it was because earth’s sun was the only sun that put out enough radiation to cause mutations leading to evolution.
When my dad got stationed on Okinawa, I had no friends and a lot of time to myself. I made it a mission to read a lot of science fiction, starting with short story collections, Hugo winners, and trilogies. Foundation was really boring and a slog. Along with Arthur C. Clark, his writing lacks the human element.
A good summary of the Foundation series. Thanks. Don't forget Asimov wrote more that fiction though. He wrote many excellent explanatory books on various scientific topics and even on the Bible and a book of limericks. He was one of my favorite authors, as you might guess :)
I've just finished for first time the original trilogy; do you recommend me to read Foundation´s edge? Some people say it's not worth it as Asimov write it after being "bribed."
@@santiagogarciazapata7422: Some people are foolish. If you enjoyed the original Foundation stories, then the follow-ups will please you as well. Isaac Asimov expanded upon it all with additional Foundation stories & managed to incorporate his robot stories & Galactic Empire stories. Read them all for guaranteed entertainment. Also read Isaac Asimov's autobiography I, Asimov, where you will learn that he was anything BUT "bribed."
I was turned on to Isaac Asimov and the Foundation series in High School. took a class called Literature of Science Fiction. One of the best classes ever.
Great review sir! One small correction however. Doc Smith's Lensman galactic empire/civilization started publication in 1939 with Galactic Patrol whereas Asimov's empire was first published in 1951 with Foundation. I love both series and am simply pointing out a minor error. Cheers, Stevew
It's amazing just how much George Lucas 'borrowed' from the Foundation series. The city planet of Courescant (Tranor), Jedi mind powers (Second Foundationers), adopting promising children from around the galaxy to become Jedi (Second Foundation policy), fractured Galactic Empire (disintigrating Galactic Empire), an evil, dark Jedi becoming Emperor (the Mule)...probably many other parallels.
I read Asimov's Foundation trilogy ages ago, in my early twenties (I am in my late sixties now). I lost a lot of sleep, too eager to read just one more chapter before going to bed. Ten years later I was amazed when I found a book "Foundations of psychohistory". It had nothing to do with Asimov. Asimov was not only one of the greatest scifi writers, he actually predicted a real science that researches the effects of mass psychology and sociology on the evolution of society.
Good evening mister.
I am In the early twenties, I almost finished most of the foundation saga.
Very thankful toward Asimov for giving me back the joy of reading, finish a book and all the cerebral work around this amazing activity.
This story taking place in a far far future learns me a lot about how our curent human work works.
I can’t stop to read more of this writer or anyone who could learn me interesting things.
I’m sure now I want to get as much knowledge as I can.
(P.s. : Sorry for my grammar / syntax mistakes , I’m absolutely not English)
@@vivelegostarswars Et une très bonne soirée pour vous aussi. Your message seems to be directed at me, but I am not sure if you expect an answer from me. Cheers, Jan
Maybe credit him with inventing analytics, too. 🙂
I was introduced to it by a kid in my year at school in the mid 80s after I had just finished reading Dune for the first time.
i want to start this book bcoz elon musk suggested this in his one of his interviews,but i really don’t know how these sci fi novels shape our perspective towards world that’s why i lack motivation to read this,can anyone please tell me more about these kinds of novels so that i also enjoy the dopamine it provides.
Asimov was so great at writing novellas and short stories that would circle back to a planned shared world. It’s genius writing and way ahead of his time.
He literally invented the "shared universe" idea. Amazing.
@@locutusdborg126 When these stories were published, they were originally in magazine short story format and Asimov was cranking them out month after month. When novel-size books became more popular in sci-fi, they packaged them all together. But Asimov was already seemingly aware that the trend would go that way, so his stories were already interlocked and flowed seamlessly as novels. I’m betting a lot of the magazine fans at the time didn’t even realize it as the mags were being published.
btw Asimov started writing Foundation when he was 21 years old! as he says in an interview
I seen other writers do that - it much easier then just writing huge books especially if you are starting out to be a writer without reputation. Shame that we don’t have more magazines around now that allow this these days
@@locutusdborg126It was actually a technique he developed in order to save time... Not having to create a complete lore for every new story has a tremendous impact on productivity...
In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker’s Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects. First, it is slightly cheaper; and second, it has the words "DON'T PANIC" inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.
Don't forget to bring a towel
Hahahaha I didn’t expect that - very clever
that book is just a good joke, but it is not science fiction.
👍
This comment would be cool if it wasn't copy/pasted on pretty much every video related to Foundation.
Asminov understood that “too big to fail actually means too big to manage.” The answer is decentralization.
Totally agree. Isaac Asimov was thinking about the consequences of any action and not the profit in real time. Plotting carefully the path and not walking in the dark till you fall. And when you are a leader of any kind, that fall is for every follower. He also understood very well the meaning of a chaotic system and how it would affect the universe. If only world governments were taking him really seriously...
But in the end his first solution was technically establishing a micro crontrolled society via second foundation without the knowledge of what is driving people. In his defence he did address it with sequels with Golan's dialogues as he is didn't find any solution to be the actual best, the man just wanted the freedom to choose for yourself.
Tell that to an empire that's lasted 10,000 years up until DOOM! We see from the future with 20/20 vision, THEY SAW Idiocy and The Boss kept saying "If it ain't broken you don't fix it!!!"
Big government, big corporations become big complacent, inefficient structures undermined by their lack of agility....... I'm also drunk
No... not at all... In any way...
I read the whole series once every ten years, since I first read it in my teens. My 5th journey through the series is coming up soon, and I can't wait. These books are a true work of art.
hehe apple tv series ? on allreaady
Must be way easier now, instead of on the original papyrus.
My impression is the Apple+ Foundation doesn't follow anything as it relates to the original series other than it's Name but without creativity. True to the depressing age we live in the end product reflects a Woke feminist centric dystopian hollowed out shell of an existence full of violence which ruined the original authors vision. You know just like Star Trek but with better graphics.
It's a shame, because I've wished for this epic tale to make it to the screen for decades. Its not enough to destroy our stability by propaganda indoctrinated education and give job production to foreign entities, our art literature and escapism must be systematically destroyed like Star Trek, Star Wars, MCU, Doctor Who and even comics/graphic novels.
I'm now thankful that Disney choose not to pursue the completion of the Edgar Rice Burroughs of John Carter on Mars Series, because that would have been too heartbreaking.
@@dilbertjunkmail I completely agree. I watched 3 first chapters of the series and abandoned. Very good graphics, special effects, but is not Foundation, is something else. The good thing is, I took on the 3 novels and enjoyed them again like in my 20s. Now, I´m going for the pre and post sequels. About the feminism in the TV version, well, I´m a woman and I fully support women rights, but please, don´t turn the Fundation´s story upside down on the name of the "me-too". Besides, when finally feminin roles show up in the books, they are definitive: Bayta Darrell and her grand daughter Arcadia. Yes, it´s a shame, because the series could be something crazily followed for many seasons. As it is, I have big doubts. Will see.
@@mc2117ful Glad you agree but oddly enough we disagree in more. Art has provided an escape and positive image for distraction from reality since its inception. SciFy was always my preferred escape and the creativity employed in multitude of comics and books by authors was glorious. I'm seeing little creativity now but a lot of agenda in all video platforms. I had hope that someone (NOT Woke Disney) would respect an original authors hopeful vision for a future through the standard struggle through powers hungry corrupt leaders scenario (basic Foundation element). There is little legitimate escapism from the dystopian existence being forged by our socialist masters invading our lives through youthful indoctrination and universities. We watch our own history destroyed and purged in front of us daily. Most are too ignorant of classic history to understand the manipulation occurring in front of their lemming eyes. I've seen more future hope in Zombie series books and B rated movies then portrayed in modern drama. Every TV series is driven to elevate heroes or favorite characters then destroy them for maximum damage to audience psyche. Why wouldn't I expect the same roller coaster of misery to be portrayed in a beloved classic purchased by the money changers funding Apple TV foundation. The script writers are all now SJW Woke feminist that prefer heroine dominance over evil white male caricatures. I can predict the ending of Foundation because it's struggle portrayal has been fictionalized by feminism architects for decades now. Regarding your feminist roots, you have always been free, you still are and are beyond equal in any career you choose. Its sad that youth aren't even allowed the fictional hope from classic stories when portrayed on video because fewer are bothering to read these classics now. You do you, no man will interfere.
I feel that Asimov's greatest contribution is his non-fiction. He wrote hundreds of books on an insane variety of subjects in a way that made it accessible to people without a college degree. He literally educated the masses better than a lot of school systems at the time he wrote them.
I own copies of the first editions of the first two volumes of his autobiography. The man had his faults. OMG, he had his faults.
Very true! I actually had a book by him, on "How to use your Slide Rule" - I still have one. Still don't know how to calculate Pi on it!
@@BOBXFILES2374a Pi is marked on any decent slide rule. Otherwise divide 22 by 7 for a good approximation
I'm 60 years old and I grew up with my mom always reading sci-fi. The Foundation series is one of her favorites. She's 76 now and I don't think I have ever met anyone who's a fan of the Foundation series. I am going to get her to look at your channel. I know she's going to love it. She also loved the stainless steel rat. I am sure you are aware of it. Maybe a video on that would be great. Thanks 😊
I loved the SSR series decades ago. Also the Commodore Grimes
YOUR MOM HAD YOU WHEN SHE WAS 16
@@NovaSalix great math skills like Hari Seldon 🙄🙄🙄
Reading this series was such a good experience. I was never able to read books with such enthusiasm until I started reading the Foundation series
just watch the 1st episode that APple but and you will enjoy the book countless time more.
I read a vast amount of scifi as a kid in the 60s and 70s, and Asimov's stories were some of the very best. The BBC also did a very enjoyable (and long!) radio adaptation of the Foundation stories in the 1970s.
Dude why these old sci fi BBC are so hard to fin or even buy on some dvd.
lets hope they dont keep adding negress actors to this until no one wants to watch
Thank You!
Loved the bbc radio dramas adaptations they was often very well done and make good listening whilst in bed
Commenter: I guess you could say Isaac Asimov laid the FOUNDATION for modern science fiction!
*Scrolls through comments and realizes 5784 commenters made the same pun*
With adequate application of psychohistory you could have predicted that.
🤣
Not only couldn't I beat Wade West to the 'foundation" pun, I couldn't even beat Justanotherconsumer to the inevitable "predictive computing" comeback. This is a dark day indeed.
Wow! *5784* commenters! With 232 comments (at last count), that's a metric buttload of shared authorship!
@@mattlivingston2192 And when I first posted that the video was hours old with a few dozen comments... I'm playing the long game here. Sweet vindication will be mine in the Summer of 2023!!
I can remember coming home from work at a science lab on a Friday to a stack of paperback books by Issac Asimov which were already aged at the time....
This was in the early 1980s... No internet and no cell phones...
Fantastic. A weekend full of adventure and ideas....
Thats awesome. I miss that feeling of how special books were back then. We had to read to really blow our minds.
Sorry to say: the internet did exist, and so did mobile phones. The company I worked for used Proffs for email and our drivers had brick-sized mobile phones :-)
Correction at 0:25. Both the Foundation series (by Isaac Asimov) and the Lensman series (by EE Smith) were in the running for all-time best sci fi series Hugo award in 1966. Foundation won. Both laid out a vast galactic empire.
Foundation was first published as a series of short stories and novellas in 1942-50. But the initial Lensman series (Galactic Patrol, Gray Lensman, Second Stage Lensmen, and Children of the Lens) was published between 1937 and 1948 in the magazine Astounding Stories.
Therefore the honour of first series to showcase a “galactic empire” goes to Smith for his Lensman series.
This video just came up on my feed, I just paused at 0:35 to double check my facts before saying much the same thing. Personally I think the Lensman series is better, although perhaps hasn't aged as well.
This series really has a special place in my heart. It was the first sci fi series I've finished completly.
Yo me too. And it opened my mind to other sci fi.
A few months ago finished reading this series, with the Robot and Galactic Empire parts too. The extras give it depth, a feeling of "I was there". I recommend reading the whole thing, and for me was a greatly satisfying read. I think it lives the fame it has, no doubt.
Absolutely, reading the Robot series beforehand especially gives the experience such extra texture.
I would add the 2nd trilogy. Foundations Fear, Foundation and Chaos, Foundation's Triumph. Written in the early 90's authourized by Janet Asimov. It includes modern concepts like computers, the internet and wormholes. It explains the back story of the Robots. Their civil war. How and why the galaxy is empty of alien life. It also makes cannon End of Eternity. Stating that if Eternity exists, mankind will go extinct. Only be destroying it, can the Empires exist. They are spread throughout the life of Hari Seldon. Before his arrival on Grantor, his time in the University, his time as First Minister and after the trial. A must read by excellent authors Gregory Benford, Greg Bear and David Brin.
Which robots stories count as part of the series?
@@deucalion4451 The four R Daneel Olivaw novels are what you need [1. The Caves of Steel, 2. The Naked Sun, 3. The Robots of Dawn, 4. Robots and Empire]. There is no need for the earlier stand-alone novels. Robot series is a bit of a misnomer, because they actually deal with the early colonization of the galaxy. The way they are tied into Foundation is pretty interesting.
In summary, I would recommend this as a list of core titles, which weave a great tapestry:
- Robot 1: The Caves of Steel
- Robot 2: The Naked Sun E
- Robot 3: The Robots of Dawn
- Robot 4: Robots and Empire
- Foundation 1: Foundation
- Foundation 2: Foundation and Empire
- Foundation 3: Second Foundation
- Foundation 4: Foundation's Edge
- Foundation 5: Foundation and Earth
I remember reading The Foundation Trilogy as an assignment for the non-credit class "The Sciences in Fiction". I love it! Later the other Foundation books came out and I didn't love them or many of the following yearly offerings from Asimov at that time. Those stories have aged well and I have discovered a new appreciation for his work. The original trilogy is on a different level but his other stories are very good to great (imo). It appears that there is definetly going to be at least one season (10 episodes) of "Foundation" based on Asimov's writtings. I'm elated that the current generation will be exposed to Asimov's stories. Who knows how a young girl or boy may be inspired and what that may lead to?
I remember stumbling on the Foundation series in a used book shop back when there were plenty of those in Belfast and I didn't have regular enough internet access to find out what was a "must read".
Those days were nice, just stumbling upon Foundation, Philip K Dick, Iain M Banks not realising where I was going.
This….just this.
Phil Dick is a god. I recommend you check out John Brunner. A sadly very underrated author who's on par with those guys.
@@Feersumenjinn Oh god, I love Banks, but reading that was hard work for me :)
They butchered his work
Exactly how I found Dune by Frank Herbert over 50:years ago Used book stores are treasure troves
Dare I say, Isaac Asimov laid the Foundation for modern Science Fiction!?
yes. you may.
Clarke definitely had a hand in that too
He did not
Asimov is to Science Fiction as Tolkien is to Fantasy. Neither is the father of their genre however they are both guys who added immeasurably to the genre and have been copied innumerable times.
Edgar Rice Burroughs you may wanna Google him
Thank you for this video. I first read the Foundation trilogy when I was about 12, in the mid-70's. I reread them again last year, and wow, are they ever great. Simple, yet so dense with possiblities to extrapolate your own ideas. I guess this is what people like Frank Herbert did.
Foundation is my favorite sci-fi work, but the most fun thing about Foundation is that, even though its a seminal mainstream science fiction classic, the story is plainly set in a space opera universe. As only one example, Asimov used a galactic empire, a concept created in the twenties by Edmond Hamilton (according to Asimov, his favorite writer in his youth). Also, the cars, guns, and general society use the concepts of space opera pulp stories by Hamilton, with a little Doc Smith, Henry Kuttner, and others thrown in as well. This makes the universe of Foundation instantly familiar to readers of pulps (or people who've seen movies like Star Wars that also draw from these pulps).
Glad to see someone else remembers "Doc" E. E. Smith. Extra Point: Who was the Gray Lensman?
I read a lot of science fiction when I was a kid, but I don't think I ever read the Foundation series, I might check that out. This video made me realize how prolific a writer Asimov was. Think of it, died at age 72 with more than 500 books to his credit! The man was an absolute writing machine, and so much of it was and will continue to be influential to writers, thinkers and artists. What a legacy.
I read all his books, twice, once in the order they came out and a second time in the chronological order of the story. I'm including all stories and short stories from robots too so everythung makes sense as towards the end, he put them all in order and linked them so it all makes sense as a very long story.
I have to say, it is amazing. One warning, you need to set your mind to remember that the older books were done over 60 years ago, so the narrative is different to the latest books and what many of us are used too in the presnt time, but still, it is amazing and i recommend it to everybody. My next step is going to be to listen to the audiobooks to relive the story again, and then, watch the series on TV.
Quinn, your service to the scifi community is awesome. Thumbs up from the Kingdom of Hungary!
I'm 67 years old and have read hundreds of Sci Fi books 📚. This set has been in my top 3 of all time, I've read the series 5 times, all 7 books are fantastic.
what are the other 2 if i may ask ?
@@Sniksax 1. Battlefield 🌎 Earth. L. Ron Hubbard 2. Game of thrones
3 body problem is miles better
@@maruf7956 not the first two books, that's all I've read and I won't be getting the third. Foundation is light years better in scope and in characters.
@@Kenny-zv4pp For Sci-fi and high Theoretical Scientific content The Three Body Problem is Untouched. Dune and Foundation is kinda like game of throne in space.
Many politics and character interactions.
But the sheer Space Terror that gives In Dark Forst and mind bending concepts in Death's End is remarkable and makes the Three Body Problem Goated.
But if you're a average joe and don't know much about science then it's understandable.
Keep the content coming Quinn n don’t let the studios keep you down
Oorah, & keep up the good fight
This show has amazing Universe visuals.. Planets with foreign skies… Love it. There beautiful. ❤ I’m half way through Season one and am already looking forward for Season 2.
As I recall, having read the series long ago, not only was the Encyclopedia a sham, so was the Foundation itself. The “real” preserver of human civilization was the Second Foundation, which also turns out to be a sham. Beyond that (and maybe even here) memory starts getting a bit murky, but doesn’t it end up that R. Daniel Oliva is the REAL architect of human civilization survival? I should dust these off and reread.
You're right about all of that, there's also a planet of humans with full group consciousness living as a super organism that has more influence than the second foundation. I believe R. Daniel is the one who created it though. I love how Asimov ended the series
Yes, R. Daniel was following his programming. He use the Zero Law of Robotic to shape humanity. He needed an unmodified human to make the final decision to continue with the creation of Gasia(correct name?).
Gaia
@@slbailey65 Galaxia.
and later, they also wrote some "official" sequel trilogy after his death which was pretty bad
only the most relaxing narrating voice....ever...thankyou the mighty Quinn
Influential indeed. I can think of three Japanese works off the top of my head that we're clearly inspired by Asimov. Ghost in the Shell obviously, Psycho Pass and a part of a little known story called Kare Kano (or his and her circumstances). While there is an anime of that, it was never finished. So only the manga has the full robot play. The manga was a heavy psychological drama with humor to sugarcoat it. The studio wanted it to be more humor and less psychological.
Wow, just found your channel. It's a gold mine for SF fans. Great job dude.
His voice is so soothing that it helps me sleep at night.
My wife loves him reading his ideas and condensed versions of his books and falls asleep listening to him!
About time ... I been waiting a long time for someone to screenplay one of the best sci fi novels ever written. It sure ain't easy bringing Asimov's work to the screen, kudos on the attempt it looks great visually.
Foundation's Edge, Foundation and Earth, Robots and Empire are my most favourite books.
Sorry Isaac for not getting into you sooner. Lovely concepts that match recent human nature. Excellent channel and comments section.
Tim White's covers to Foundation are my favourites. The Bear, Brin and Benford "sequel" trilogy isn't bad and at least provided a good post "Foundation and Earth" conclusion (and explanation as to why the tech in Foundation seemed so anodyne)
chris foss spaceship covers
Excellent video bro. As always.
I am an OLD student of Asminov's science fiction. I was so excited to learn that Apple TV was running a Foundation series. His daughter, Robyn from his first marriage, is one of producers and endorses the series. After watching two episodes, all I can say is WHY? I don't think anyone involved from is daughter to the writers has actually read any of the books. Their cliff notes version is just Hollywood done again and muddled the entire stories in all Foundation books. It's just another car chase/crash and sex. I wonder if Robyn was on good terms with her father or is it just the money. I think both. The sad part is that ppl don't read anymore. They rely of the screen versions for accuracy. They will never know the real stories of Foundation.
Yeeeeaaahh. I've so far watched the first three episodes. I'll say the production quality is great, but it has practically NOTHING to do with the books. They use some of the names of places and characters, but that's about it. I kind of want to keep watching out of morbid curiosity just to see what happens, but it's definitely not a show I could ever see myself re-visiting in the future.
TV is all business nowadays, and the Foundation books come from both a simpler and more upbeat time. When people trusted experts, science was celebrated, and there can be debate of ideas. Some of the Foundation's themes can be disturbing to the audience in this age. The trajectory is downwards and there's a feeling of inevitable decline, and people more and more look inward rather than out. So the end result is a risk-free soup of what people are familiar and comfortable with, whilst stroking some topical interests like a checklist.
Well off course. Dune was lucky to get a producer that actually cared for the franchise.
Absolutely 💯
@@happyhighherbs1 I'm sure it's full of social virtuous signaling though.
在读了《基地》系列后，给我最强烈的感受不是飞船与星战，也不是未来科技的发达或经济的繁荣。而是阿西莫夫对于概率预测的统计学“心理史学”的想象，人类可以预测未来事件发生的概率，并可以试图将历史的发展导向更加完美的未来。这是贯穿整个基地系列思考最深刻，也是最让人震撼的部分。
One of the best sagas ever created. Along with Dune, it's one of the crown jewels off science fiction.
I started reading this series when I was sophomore in highschool circa 2005. It really molded my interest in science fiction that a story could be this wide and fantastic. My geometry teacher saw the book on my desk and got this wide smile "are you just starting the series?!" And yeah. It's good
Thanks for putting me on all this cool sci go man I started listening to the Hyperion audio book last night gonna give this a try next
The Apple TV+ show is incredible, I don’t understand why everyone is only talking about the books here. The TV show is amazing as well!
I really love Asimov's photography towards the end of the video, he looks like a mix between an old wise man and a malicious Abraham Lincoln.
It made me think of Wolverine...
Wasn't he an elite marxist?
@@FictionCautious I don't know.
@@FictionCautious He was a notorious sexual harasser. Never heard about him being a marxist.
Read the whole series. Loved it. There is nothing like it out there. Asimov was just another level.
Siri, show me what will happen when historical materialism is perfected
All religions will wither and die. And, finally, rationality will lead humans into the far future.
@@locutusdborg126 In pee-card's voice. "Spirituality as its Bean will
Continue, never underestimate
The human imagination and the hart,
Resistants is futile".
@@franzhaas5597 Spirituality has nothing to do with religion.
I'm finally reading the series (in the order written, it turns out), and I knew I could find some solid commentary here. Thanks friend!
Hey Quinn,
You mentioned that there are prequels to Foundation. Having read them yourself, which order would you recommend? Also, which order did you experience them in?
Cheers,
M. Schneider
Reading the Foundation books in publishing order is great IMO, as the prequels spoil some stuff that comes up in the later books
My recommendations: Read the main trilogy, then the prequels and then the sequels, I really liked that order and it worked for me
@@juanjosegutierrezmerchan2669 i agree.
I would read the prequel dead last, they are the weeker of the bunch. I would go OG trilogy into Robots novels into Caves of Steel and the Naked Sun, then Empire Cycle (Tyrann etc...) then the last two Fondation, then Robots of Dawn and Robots and Empire and finally the prequel if you wish to.
After the 1st 4 and the robot and empire novels, then Foundation and Earth. Then.Prelude to Foundation, then Forward the foundation. ( chronological in universe) , then.the 2nd trilogy. Foundation's Fear, Foundation & chaos, Foundation's triumph. The non Asimov books that fill in the missing history lost to mankind.
Foundation was my introduction to Asimov, and is still probably my favourite sci-fi series of all time, damn I love those books!
One small bugbear though, Star Wars isn't sci-fi.....it's fantasy in space. There is a big difference (at least in my reckoning).
It is closer to Star Trek than Star Wars.
I’ve been loving these videos! Also while waiting for the winds of winter to come out I’ve started reading the wheel of time series and I think you’d like it a lot. All of its lore and mysteries would also make for good videos
But books ~5 to 9 are so dull and boring...
great video.
i read Foundation trilogy over 20 years ago and didnt remember much today. and now i watched the show and was confused because things were different. thats why im here to check up some differences.
my conclusion: i need to wait another 20 years to forget all about the books AND the show and then i read Foundation again when im retired. thats my personal psychohistory plan :)
E. E. Doc Smith wrote the Lensman series in the late 30s and it had 2 Galactic empires. It was truly the first Space Opera.
I felt like that one devolved into repetitive conflicts.
First Lovecraft and now Asimov you've helped me understand better
Ty Quinn!
Thanks for the review. It has been 40 years since I last read the series. I can't wait for the upcoming series in the next few weeks. I agree that Foundation is a highly influential scifi story but I think that Star Wars draws mostly from the movie serials like Flash Gordon and the John Carter of Mars books. In fact, when the John Carter movie came it many critics said it was a Star Wars rip-off!
I have read The Trilogy when I was young. Your video made me want to read it again. Saludos desde La Ciudad del Humo.
Although Asimov's psycho-history was the first time I encountered the idea that large numbers of humans acted in predictable ways, his idea was certainly not the first. Another similar view was created by Prof. Alexander Tytler in the 1790s. He predicted that democracies would always go through a cycle. One of the steps in that cycle was the recognition by the citizens of a democracy that they could vote themselves money/freebies from the public treasury which would cause the democracy to go bankrupt and then collapse into totalitarianism. Seems to me we are well along that path.
When you read his short stories, you start to realise where the idea for Psychohistory came from, the way Powell and Donovan used to re-interpret programming as 'thoughts' or 'reasoning' in Runaround is a great example of how Asimov equated the two.
I like how hari seldon dies in like the first half of the first book, and is still one of the most importan, if not the most important character of the whole trilogy
As a sci-fi lover, I love the books. As someone that took a LOT of statistics in college, I truly loathe Psychohistory. It perpetuates the notion that probability is the same thing as empirical certainty. Even with large sample groups (values of n), outliers routinely occur.
You cannot be a sci-fi fan without having read Asimov, one of the Godfathers of sci-fi.
Bredburry and Shekley are my favorite masters of the short stories for long cosmic ride... Azimov, Clarke and Simons. I find myself returning to those authors when i miss good sci fi work. And movies or series aint it. So shallow shows.
Why on Earth would anyone require to have this trilogy explained? I first read them over 50 years ago as a young teenager and understood the plot perfectly.
You should do a visual audio reading of this book like you did with the dune Series. Those are entertaining to watch.
Quinn you're the best! I love your videos! Well done! :)
Re-reading the original trilogy and finally reading the other books has been part of my summer program. One thing I noticed is that Asimov appears to invent the idea of metadata as a basis for psychohistory.
clear and very objective despite such a complex subject, congratulations!
I feel sorry for some of the people tasked with preserving all human knowledge….I mean imagine your division had to catalog TikTok archives….Sign me up for the cat meme scribe though.
Out of recently learning about this, the three body problem, and dune on your channel. This has me the most captivated, with the three body problem in close 2nd.
I know it's not really your genre specifically but you should read the "clan of the cave bear" 6 book series written by Jean Auel. It's a fabulous series and I've never heard ANYONE talk about it online at all. Anyway just a recommendation, I love your content
I love those book. Not sci-fi. But they are with foundation, on of my favourites
haha sounds like the narrator from 'things they dont want you to know' vids, haha love you guys of course you would do a vid on asimov, haha, happy holidays!
I believe, before starting the 7 books long Foundation Saga, one should first of all read the following books. Otherwise, one can never truly appreciate Asimov's work and genius:
1- Complete Robot
2- Caves of Steel
3- Naked Sun
4- Robots of Dawn
5- Robotd and Empire
and then, comes the Foundation Saga. At the end, all are connected and entangled in between.
I cut my teeth on those books. Along with Clark, A.E. Van Vogt, Clifford D. Simak. The memories this brings back.
I'd read Caves of Steel & Naked Sun before the fourth and fifth books of Empire, and was excited by the prospect of a "shared universe" raised in "Foundation's Edge"... but I gotta say, I hated the way "Foundation & Earth" handled the integration of the two series.
Eh, that's true, but when he decided to intertwine the universe (starting, I believe with Foundation's Edge), it was kind of detriment. I can't really go into major details without major spoilers, but let's just say that the decisions he made towards the end of the Foundation saga kind of bring into question the point of everything. Still, Outstanding books though.
One of the first science fiction books i read from the school library...amazing.... love it. Psychohistory..my little algebra of humanity...
I started watching it in September 2023. I extremely love the show with all it's fantastic cast, all the wonderful and very creative/colorful CGI. The visual effects are incredible vivid and embracing. Jared Harris (Hari Seldon) is awe inspiring, very intriguing that drew me into this wonderful sci-fi saga from the very beginning. If you're reading this Jared Harris, i want to thank you wholeheartedly for your great performances. And of course, there's many more great actors in this show, omg. Lou Llobell (Gaal Dornick), Leah Harvey (Salvor Hardin), Lee Pace (Brother Day), Terrence Mann (Brother Dusk), Laura Birn (Demerzel), Kubra Sait (Phara), and many many more. I appreciate the nice change of pace from all the too familiar sci-fi franchises out there, lol, Thank you again, for we don't deserve all your wonderful works of passionate and artistic achievements.
Your videos are consistently great Quinn! Love the channel!
First I see we are heading to Hyperion, now Foundation and that’s all on top of best analysis of Dune - what are you doooooing to us 🙈😭😭
Great stuff man, please keep the great flowing, love your videos!
Great summary, I'll recommend it to friends to introduce them to the series! I wonder if you're a fan of the Ender series, and would ever do a deep dive on some it's concepts and fictional technologies and ecologies.
My older brother was a serious scifi buff when I was a lad and he had these books. At the time, from reading the precis, I always thought they sounded incredibly dull... and judging by this explainer, I think I was right.
Fair play for making the video though, I've liked it.
In the series, 6 characters will live for
centuries (the author said he has found a way to do that)
Who? Daneel, Giskard, Gladia, and?
@@andreaslordos9040 he didn't say it
This is so fascinating, thank you!
I read the original trilogy 50 years ago and recently re-read it. This time around I had more trouble accepting the stilted conversations, people using words and turns of phrase that no one uses in real life but that aside...... the series has almost NOTHING in common with the books. The names used are the same but the sexes were changed, there was only one Cleon and not a whole line of clones. The series just took the names and the basic premise of the books and spun a whole different story around them. Disappointing really.
I expect only ideas and messages to stay. It would be very hard to make a good show off most books otherwise. Specially since the foundation is a very not made for life action format book. It’s way more about ideas and concepts than characters and actions. Maybe a sci-if documentary could do it justice if you wanted a straight copy of the book in life action version.
Excellent work. Easy to apprehend while not spoiling too much of the plot. Bien joué !
You've earned my subscription. Your work on Dune drew me to your channel, but you're so diverse in your interests that it exposed me to the work of other authors. I wonder if your channel will ever expand into the universe of Warhammer 40k? I don't know much about it other than some videos I've seen on TH-cam but it seems like a story that might appeal to you
Im now getting back into this thanks to you, Quinn! I love your reactions and reviews of Dune 2021. You, Frank, and Issac all factor a bit in my own work.
The only issie I have with Asimov wonderful work is that he and many other Science Fiction writers expected robotics to evolve fast and telecommunications and electronics beat that by a lot. Robotics is still in its infancy and telecommunications is now extremely advanced. Asimov work seems to be losing the battle against time.
Love your dune videos...I'm getting into foundation now!
Quinn, you have a voice for this kind of thing. Please do more deep dives like you did with Dune!
You're the best out here in these SciFi TH-cam streets and we know it. Keep doing you and stay lifted.... I am seeing the Algorithms working hard against you but F that!!!
One might call it the foundation of contemporary Sci-Fi
I member I read the first book in a day. Never did that with JRR Tolkien. Both are great authors of course, but I feel like Asimov is underrated.
I've never read Tolkein and I doubt if the Lord of the Rings could be read in a single day. Although Asimov is writing about space, robots etc. there's a lot of humanity and social comment in his work. Look at the Currents of Space which gives an unusual take on race relations and must have been quite controversial when it was published in 1952.
This nerd's plan after retiring from science teaching next year is to use my LLC called "Foundation Enterprises" (I like trek too) to build a real-life Foundation charter school, paralleling Asimov's vision, including ultimately reversing entropy.
1. Use profits from TSLA stock and reserved cybertruck robotaxis to fund.
2. Save knowledge hardcopies (wikipedia) and have survival prep against collapse training embedded (nukes, virus, asteroid, etc) in a curriculum that teaches game theory and mental tools (1st Foundation cover story). Invite others via channel uploads when ready.
3. Create, follow and revise the dynamic Seldon-esque begin-to-end of time plan (broad strokes done by Asimov), not letting morality get in the way of doing what is right.
4. Fund "Foundation University" which focuses on genetics and robotics (3 laws), and be involved with the Brain Preservation Society's work using glutaraldehyde to cryonically preserve synapses. Also set up matchmaking service with China to get nerds' wives (my wife's from Shanghai, no US woman I've met irl would ever agree to this plan).
5. Community gets revived near Starbase, TX, the intellectual opposite end of the world, and works on Intergalactic expansion, solving entropy, and enjoying 40th-century near-immortal life infused w/ altruistic AI.
Why? It's the least I can do to thank Asimov for organizing my thoughts in a myopic world of cra-cra egoism.
Y do people say that other things would've never have happened without this or that. It is unknowable whether something would've been created without this first thing. Foundation is one of the greatest pieces of science fiction. Ideas come from obscure places. I enjoyed the video Quinn.
Asimov really painted himself into a corner in his explanation for the absence of aliens. First there was a vague reference to robotic Terra forming ships that destroyed whatever ecosystems a planet had. Finally it was because earth’s sun was the only sun that put out enough radiation to cause mutations leading to evolution.
You need to read "the end of eternity" which explains it.
Grew up reading everything of his i could get my hands on... foundation series took center stage.
When my dad got stationed on Okinawa, I had no friends and a lot of time to myself. I made it a mission to read a lot of science fiction, starting with short story collections, Hugo winners, and trilogies. Foundation was really boring and a slog. Along with Arthur C. Clark, his writing lacks the human element.
Maybe that's why he liked writing about robots...
A good summary of the Foundation series. Thanks. Don't forget Asimov wrote more that fiction though. He wrote many excellent explanatory books on various scientific topics and even on the Bible and a book of limericks. He was one of my favorite authors, as you might guess :)
Quinn I would love to see you do a video on the berserker series, by Fred Saberhagen. Thanks 😊❤
I’ve re read the trilogy 4 times . The succeeding 4 novels twice and am about to read all 7 through from beginning to end now . Love them .
I've just finished for first time the original trilogy; do you recommend me to read Foundation´s edge? Some people say it's not worth it as Asimov write it after being "bribed."
@@santiagogarciazapata7422: Some people are foolish. If you enjoyed the original Foundation stories, then the follow-ups will please you as well. Isaac Asimov expanded upon it all with additional Foundation stories & managed to incorporate his robot stories & Galactic Empire stories. Read them all for guaranteed entertainment.
Also read Isaac Asimov's autobiography I, Asimov, where you will learn that he was anything BUT "bribed."
I was turned on to Isaac Asimov and the Foundation series in High School. took a class called Literature of Science Fiction. One of the best classes ever.
Great review sir! One small correction however. Doc Smith's Lensman galactic empire/civilization started publication in 1939 with Galactic Patrol whereas Asimov's empire was first published in 1951 with Foundation.
I love both series and am simply pointing out a minor error. Cheers, Stevew
It's amazing just how much George Lucas 'borrowed' from the Foundation series. The city planet of Courescant (Tranor), Jedi mind powers (Second Foundationers), adopting promising children from around the galaxy to become Jedi (Second Foundation policy), fractured Galactic Empire (disintigrating Galactic Empire), an evil, dark Jedi becoming Emperor (the Mule)...probably many other parallels.
You have a great channel going here. Keep up the great work.
Nicely done. I only read the first book some 20 years.