What was Isaac Asimov afraid of? How Isaac Asimov became the most famous and richest science fiction writer in the world

Isaac Asimov (Isaac Asimov, birth name Isaac Yudovich Ozimov; January 2, 1920, Petrovichi, RSFSR - April 6, 1992, New York, USA) - American science fiction writer, science popularizer, biochemist.

Author of about 500 books, mostly fiction (primarily in the genre of science fiction, but also in other genres: fantasy, detective, humor) and popular science (in the most different areas- from astronomy and genetics to history and literary criticism). Multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner. Some terms from his works - robotics (robotics, robotics), positronic (positronic), psychohistory (psychohistory, behavioral science large groups people) - have become firmly established in English and other languages. In the Anglo-American literary tradition Asimov, along with Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein, is considered one of the “Big Three” science fiction writers.

In one of his addresses to readers, Asimov formulated the humanistic role of science fiction in the following way: modern world: “History has reached a point where humanity is no longer allowed to be at odds. People on Earth must be friends. I have always tried to emphasize this in my works... I don’t think it is possible to make all people love each other, but I would like to destroy hatred between people. And I quite seriously believe that Science fiction there is one of the links that helps connect humanity. The problems that we raise in science fiction become pressing problems of all humanity... The science fiction writer, the reader of science fiction, science fiction itself serve humanity.”

Science Fiction Forecasters - Isaac Asimov

Azimov was born (according to documents) on January 2, 1920 in the town of Petrovichi, Klimovichi district, Mogilev province, RSFSR (since 1929 - Shumyachsky district, Smolensk region) into a Jewish family. His parents, Anna Rachel Berman-Asimov (1895-1973) and Yuda Aronovich Azimov (Judah Asimov, 1896-1969), were millers by profession. They named him in honor of his late maternal grandfather, Isaac Berman (1850-1901). Contrary to Isaac Asimov's later claims that the original family surname was "Ozimov", all remaining relatives in the USSR bear the surname "Azimov".

As a child, Asimov spoke Yiddish and English. From fiction to early years he grew up mainly on the stories of Sholom Aleichem. In 1923, his parents took him to the United States (“in a suitcase,” as he himself put it), where they settled in Brooklyn and a few years later opened a candy store.

At the age of 5, Isaac Asimov went to school in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. He was supposed to start school at age 6, but his mother changed his birthday to September 7, 1919, in order to send him to school a year earlier. After finishing tenth grade in 1935, 15-year-old Azimov entered Seth Low Junior College, but the college closed a year later. Asimov entered the chemistry department at Columbia University in New York, where he received a bachelor's degree (B.S.) in 1939 and a master's degree (M.Sc.) in chemistry in 1941 and entered graduate school. However, in 1942 he went to Philadelphia to work as a chemist at the Philadelphia Shipyard for the Army. Another science fiction writer, Robert Heinlein, worked there with him.

Asimov began writing at the age of 11. He began writing a book about the adventures of boys living in small town. He wrote 8 chapters and then abandoned the book. But at the same time it happened interesting case. Having written 2 chapters, Isaac retold them to his friend. He demanded a continuation. When Isaac explained that this was all he had written for now, his friend asked him to give him the book where Isaac had read the story. From that moment on, Isaac realized that he had a gift for writing and began to take his literary work seriously.

In 1941, the story “Nightfall” was published about a planet rotating in a system of six stars, where night falls once every 2049 years. The story achieved enormous fame (according to Bewildering Stories, it was one of the most famous stories ever published). In 1968, the Science Fiction Writers Association of America declared Nightfall to be the best science fiction story ever written. The story was included in anthologies more than 20 times, was filmed twice, and Asimov himself later called it “a watershed in my professional career.” A hitherto little-known science fiction writer, who published about 10 stories (and about the same number were rejected), became famous writer. Interestingly, Asimov himself did not consider “Nightfall” to be his favorite story.

On May 10, 1939, Asimov began writing the first of his robot stories, the story "Robbie." In 1941, Asimov wrote the story “Liar!” about a robot who could read minds. The famous Three Laws of Robotics begin to appear in this story. Asimov attributed the authorship of these laws to John W. Campbell, who formulated them in a conversation with Asimov on December 23, 1940. Campbell, however, said that the idea belonged to Asimov, he only gave it the formulation. In the same story, Asimov coined the word “robotics” (robotics, the science of robots), which was included in English language. In Asimov's translations into Russian, robotics is also translated as “robotics”, “robotics”.

In the collection of short stories I, Robot, which brought the writer worldwide fame, Asimov dispels widespread fears associated with the creation of artificial intelligent beings. Before Asimov, most stories about robots involved them rebelling or killing their creators. Asimov's robots are not mechanical villains plotting to destroy the human race, but assistants to people, often smarter and more humane than their owners. Since the early 1940s, robots in science fiction have been subject to the Three Laws of Robotics, although traditionally no science fiction writer except Asimov explicitly cites these laws.

In 1942, Asimov began the Foundation series of novels. Initially, "Foundation" and the robot stories were classified as different worlds, and only in 1980 Asimov decided to unite them.

Since 1958, Asimov began to write much less fiction and much more popular science literature. From 1980 he resumed writing science fiction with the continuation of the Foundation series.

Asimov's three favorite stories were "The Last Question", "The Bicentennial Man" and "The Ugly Little Boy", in that order. My favorite novel was The Gods Themselves.

In February 1942, on Valentine's Day, Asimov met on a "blind date" with Gertrude Blugerman. On July 26 they got married. From this marriage was born a son, David (1951), and a daughter, Robyn Joan (1955).

From October 1945 to July 1946, Azimov served in the army. Then he returned to New York and continued his education. In 1948, he completed his graduate studies, received a PhD (Doctor of Science) degree in biochemistry, and entered a postdoctoral fellowship as a biochemist. In 1949, he became a teacher at Boston University School of Medicine, where he became an assistant professor in December 1951 and an associate professor in 1955. In 1958, the university stopped paying him a salary, but formally kept him in his previous position. By this point, Asimov's income as a writer already exceeded his university salary. In 1979 he was awarded the title of full professor.

In the 1960s, Asimov was under investigation by the FBI for possible connections with the communists. The reason was a denunciation of Asimov’s respectful review of Russia as the first country to build nuclear power plant. Suspicions were finally cleared against the writer in 1967.

In 1970, Asimov separated from his wife and almost immediately became involved with Janet Opal Jeppson, whom he met at a banquet on May 1, 1959. (They had previously met in 1956, when he gave her an autograph. Asimov did not remember that meeting, and Jeppson considered him an unpleasant person at the time.) The divorce became effective on November 16, 1973, and on November 30, Asimov and Jeppson were married. There were no children from this marriage.

He died on April 6, 1992 from heart and kidney failure due to HIV infection (leading to AIDS), which he contracted during heart surgery in 1983. According to the will, the body was cremated and the ashes were scattered.

Biography of Isaac Asimov

The most famous fantastic works Azimova:

The collection of stories "I, Robot" ("I, Robot"), in which Asimov developed code of ethics for robots. It was he who wrote the Three Laws of Robotics;
A series of 3 novels about a galactic empire: Pebble in the Sky, The Stars, Like Dust and The Currents of Space;
A series of novels "Foundation" ("Foundation", also translated as "Foundation", "Foundation", "Establishment" and "Academy") about the collapse of the galactic empire and the birth of a new social order;
Novel “The Gods Themselves” (“The Gods Themselves”), central theme which - rationalism without morality leads to evil;
The novel "The End of Eternity" which describes Eternity (an organization that controls time travel and makes changes human history) and its collapse;
A series about the adventures of space ranger Lucky Starr (see Lucky Starr series);
The story “The Bicentennial Man”, based on which it was filmed in 1999 film of the same name.

Episode "Detective Elijah Bailey and Robot Daniel Olivo" - famous cycle from four novels and one story about the adventures of an earthling detective and his partner - a robot cosmonite: “Mother Earth”, “Caves of Steel”, “The Naked Sun”, “Mirror Reflection”, “Robots of the Dawn”, “Robots and Empire” "

Almost all of the writer’s cycles, as well as individual works, form the “History of the Future”.

Many of Asimov's works have been filmed, most famous films- “Bicentennial Man” and “I, Robot.”

Years of life: from 01/02/1920 to 04/06/1992

Legendary American science fiction writer, one of the geniuses of the 20th century. Author of about 500 books, mostly fiction (primarily in the genre of science fiction, but also in other genres: fantasy, detective, humor) and popular science (in a variety of areas - from astronomy and genetics to history and literary criticism).

Isaac Asimov (real name Isaac Ozimov) was born on January 2, 1920 in Russia, in Petrovichi, a town located very close to Smolensk. His parents, Judah and Anna, immigrated to the States in 1923, bringing Isaac and his younger sister with them. The family settled in Brooklyn, where the father bought pastry shop. The family devoted quite little time to religious education, and Isaac early became an atheist - which he never hid or imposed on anyone. In 1928, Asimov's father achieved naturalization, which meant that Isaac also became a US citizen. After receiving secondary education, Azimov, at the request of his parents, tried to become a doctor. This turned out to be beyond his strength: the sight of blood made him feel sick. Then Isaac made an attempt to enter the most prestigious college of Columbia University, but did not make it past the interview, writing in his autobiography that he was talkative, unbalanced and did not know how to impress people good impression. He was accepted into Seth Low Junior College in Brooklyn. A year later, this college closed and Asimov ended up at Columbia University - however, as a simple student, and not a student at an elite college. On July 25, 1945, Isaac Asimov married Gertrude Bluegerman, whom he had met several months earlier.

Among the most famous works writer - novels "Caves of Steel" (1954), "The End of Eternity" (1955), "The Naked Sun" (1957), "The Gods Themselves" (1972), the grand cycle "Foundation" (or "Academy", 1963-1986) , as well as a series of stories in which the famous three laws of robotics were formulated for the first time.

It is alleged that Isaac Asimov came up with the idea for the Foundation series (Academy) while sitting on the subway when his eye accidentally fell on a picture depicting a Roman legionnaire with a background of starships. Allegedly, it was after this that Asimov decided to describe the galactic empire from the point of view of history, economics, psychology and sociology.

According to rumors, the novel Foundation (Academy) made a huge impression on Osama bin Laden and even influenced his decision to create the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. Bin Laden likened himself to Hari Seldon, who controls the society of the future through pre-planned crises. Moreover, the title of the novel when translated into Arabic sounds like Al Qaida and, thus, could be the reason for the name of bin Laden's organization.

He is one of the so-called “Big Three” science fiction writers. This fact speaks of the recognition of his colleagues and the gigantic contribution he made to literature. Moreover, this three magnificent masters science fiction writers can also be called educators of our time. Asimov and Clark did a lot to popularize science.

Petrovichi (now Shumyachsky district) of the Smolensk region is a place that was glorified by the birth on January 2, 1920 of the boy Isaac, who later became the best science fiction writer of the 20th century, Isaac Azimov. He later said that he was born on the same land as Yuri Gagarin, and therefore still feels as if he belongs to two countries at once.

The writer's father, Yuda Azimov, was at that time educated person. At first he was busy in the family business, and after the revolution he became an accountant. The writer's mother, Hana Rachel, was from large family and worked in the shop.

Emigration

After the birth of their daughter in 1923, Isaac's parents receive an invitation from his mother's brother, who had long since left for the United States and settled there. The family decides to emigrate to America.

Isaac Asimov claimed that before coming to the United States, his parents bore the surname Ozimov, but immigration officials entered them as Asimov and changed the writer's name to the American style. That's how he became Isaac.

My parents couldn’t master English well, so they couldn’t get a job. Then Yuda bought a small grocery store and opened a trade. But for his son, he did not want the fate of a small merchant and decided to give him a good education. Isaac himself studied with pleasure, and from the age of 5 he could visit the library.

Nothing worked out with admission to the Faculty of Medicine - as it turned out, Azimov could not stand the sight of blood. Then it was decided to enter the chemistry department at Columbia University.

Next was successful career. Isaac Asimov became a professor of biochemistry and began teaching at Boston Medical School. In 1958 he suddenly stopped his scientific activity. But he continued to give his famous lectures for several years.

How he becomes a science fiction writer

Asimov began writing as a child. One day his friend, having read the beginning of the story, demanded a continuation. And then it became clear to the future science fiction writer that he was really doing something.

Isaac Asimov's first stories were published in 1939 by the legendary editor and discoverer of young talent. Already the second published work - "Nightfall" - becomes, according to the American Science Fiction Writers Association, the best fantasy creation ever written in the world.

The best books of the writer

In the fantasy genre, these are works such as “The Gods Themselves,” “Foundation” and the “I, Robot” series. But these are not all of his significant creations. No one could look into the future millennia ahead better than Isaac Asimov. "The End of Eternity" - best novel writer dedicated to the problem of time travel.

The Incredible Asimov

Writing 500 books seems incredible. Many people won’t even read that much in their entire lives. Isaac Asimov not only wrote, he also managed to do great amount other matters. He was chairman of the American Humanist Association, popularized science, and edited a science fiction magazine bearing his name. He did not trust literary agents and preferred to conduct business himself, which took a lot of time. Azimov managed, despite his workload, to be the chairman of the men's club. He did everything conscientiously. He carefully prepared even a small speech at his club. There was no occasion when he had to blush for the result of his work.

The writer’s area of ​​interest is also striking. A former biochemist professor, Asimov never limited himself to studying only this area of ​​science. He was interested in everything around him. Cosmology, futurology, linguistics, history, linguistics, medicine, psychology, anthropology - this is just a small list of the science fiction writer's hobbies. He was not only interested in these sciences, but also studied them seriously. And the books Isaac Asimov wrote in these areas of knowledge are always accurate and impeccable in the reliability of the material presented.

Work to popularize science

In the mid-1950s, Asimov began writing journalism, popularizing science. His book for teenagers, “The Chemistry of Life,” was a great success among readers, and he himself realized that writing documentary works was easier and more interesting for him than fiction. He writes for large quantity scientific journals articles on mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy. Most of His works were aimed at children and teenagers. In a form accessible to them, Asimov told young readers about serious things.

Asimov's popular science literature

The writer is better known in the world for his works in the genre of fantasy and mysticism. Few people know that Isaac Asimov is the author numerous works in the form of popular science literature. The variety of his interests is amazing.

The famous science fiction writer wrote books about the history of the Middle East, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, races and genes, the evolution of the Universe and the mystery of supernovas. He created " Brief history biology", where he spoke in a fascinating way about the development of this science, starting with ancient times. Another work, “The Human Brain,” humorously describes the structure and operation of the central nervous system. The book also contains many fascinating stories about the development of the science of psychobiochemistry.

Many of the writer's books simply need to be read by children. One of them is “Popular Anatomy”. Isaac Asimov talks in detail about the amazing structure human body. In his characteristic manner of speaking easily and naturally about complex things, the author tries to awaken the reader’s interest in anatomy.

Isaac Asimov's popular science books are always written in a lively, understandable language. He knows how to talk about very complex things in a fun and interesting way.

Future forecast. What did the writer predict come true?

At one time, the topic of predicting the future of humanity by famous science fiction authors was very popular. Especially a lot different options developments were proposed by Asimov and Arthur Clarke. This idea is not new. Jules Verne also described in his works many discoveries that were made by man much later.

At the request of The New York Times in 1964, Isaac Asimov made a prediction about what the world would look like in 50 years in 2014. This seems surprising, but most of the science fiction writer’s assumptions either came true or were predicted very accurately. Of course, these are not predictions pure form, the writer made his conclusions about the future of humanity on the basis of existing technology. But still, the accuracy of his statements is amazing.

What came true:

1. Television in 3D format.
2. Cooking will be largely automated. Devices with an “auto-cook” function will appear in the kitchen.
3. Population Globe will reach the 6 billion mark.
4. During a conversation with an interlocutor who is at a distance, he can be seen. Phones will become portable and will have a screen. With its help it will be possible to work with images and read books. Satellites will help you contact a person anywhere on Earth.
5. Robots will not become widespread.
6. The equipment will work without an electrical cord, on batteries or rechargeable batteries.
7. Man will not land on Mars, but programs will be created to colonize it.
8. Solar power plants will be used.
9. The study of computer disciplines will be introduced in schools.
10. The Arctic and deserts, as well as the underwater shelf, will be actively developed.

Films based on the works of Isaac Asimov. The most famous film adaptations

In 1999, “The Bicentennial Man” was released, based on joint romance Silverberg and Asimov's "Positronic Man". And the basis was a short story by a writer with the same name as the filmed picture. Problems associated with the appearance of robots in the future have always worried science fiction writers. The possible evolution of artificial intelligence, the likelihood of its confrontation with humanity, the safety of robots, fear of them, humanity - the range of issues that Asimov raises in his work is very wide.

This film examines a very interesting problem: can a robot become a human? Main character tape - the android Andrew, brilliantly played by Robin Williams.

In 2004, another wonderful film was released - “I, Robot”. Isaac Asimov is considered the author novel of the same name, on which it was based. In fact, the plot of the picture is taken from a whole series of books by the writer about robots. This is one of the most successful adaptations of Asimov’s works, which very accurately conveys the problems that he constantly raised in his work.

This time the film examines the problem of the evolution of artificial intelligence. Isaac Asimov's laws of robotics, invented by him in 1942, will play an important role in the plot. According to them, the robot is obliged to protect people and cannot harm them. He must obey his master in everything, unless this violates the most main law robotics - human integrity.

In film artificial intelligence VIKI, the brain of the largest robot manufacturing company, gradually evolves and comes to the conclusion that humanity needs to be protected from itself, otherwise people will destroy everything around them. With the help of a new and improved series of robots, he takes over the entire city. At the same time they die civilians. The main character, detective Del Spooner, with his assistants in the person of a company employee and the robot Sunny, destroys VIKI. The film also acutely touches on the problem of people’s rejection of these machines and their distrust of them.

Another famous Isaac Asimov "Twilight" is the film "The Black Hole" with Vin Diesel in leading role. This is a very free retelling of the writer’s work, which has almost nothing in common with the original version.

In addition to these three famous film adaptations, the films “Twilight”, “The End of Eternity” and “The Love of an Android” were also created based on the writer’s works.

Prizes and awards

Asimov was very proud of his awards, especially in the field of science fiction. He has a huge number of them, and this is not surprising, given the writer’s incredible ability to work and his bibliography of 500 written works. He has received several Hugo and Nebula awards and was a recipient of the Thomas Alva Edison Foundation Award. For his work in chemistry, Asimov received an award from the American Chemical Society.

In 1987, Asimov was awarded the Nebula Award with a stunning wording - “Great Master.”

Writer's personal life

Isaac Asimov was successful as an author, but the writer's personal life was not always cloudless. In 1973 after 30 years life together he is divorcing his wife. There are two children left from this marriage. That same year he married his longtime friend Janet Jeppson.

The last years of the writer's life

He did not live very long by the standards of the Western world - 72 years. In 1983, Azimov underwent heart bypass surgery. During its implementation, the writer was infected with HIV through donated blood. No one suspected anything until the second operation, when, during an examination, he was diagnosed with AIDS. Fatal disease led to kidney failure, and on April 6, 1992, the great writer passed away.

Azimov was born (according to documents) on January 2, 1920 in the town of Petrovichi, Mstislavl district, Mogilev province, Belarus (from 1929 to the present day in the Shumyachsky district of the Smolensk region of Russia) into a Jewish family. His parents, Hana-Rakhil Isaakovna Berman (Anna Rachel Berman-Asimov, 1895-1973) and Yuda Aronovich Azimov (Judah Asimov, 1896-1969), were millers by profession. They named him in honor of his late maternal grandfather, Isaac Berman (1850-1901). Contrary to Isaac Asimov's later claims that the original family surname was "Ozimov", all remaining relatives in the USSR bear the surname "Azimov".

As Asimov himself points out in his autobiographies (“In Memory Yet Green,” “It’s Been A Good Life”), his native and only language in childhood was Yiddish; They didn’t speak Russian with him in his family. In fiction, in his early years, he grew up mainly on the stories of Sholom Aleichem. In 1923, his parents took him to the United States (“in a suitcase,” as he himself put it), where they settled in Brooklyn and a few years later opened a candy store.

At the age of 5, Isaac Asimov went to school. (He was supposed to start school at age 6, but his mother changed his birthday to September 7, 1919, in order to send him to school a year earlier.) After finishing tenth grade in 1935, the 15-year-old Asimov entered Seth Low Junior College , but a year later this college closed. Asimov entered the chemistry department at Columbia University in New York, where he received a bachelor's degree (B.S.) in 1939 and a master's degree (M.Sc.) in chemistry in 1941 and entered graduate school. However, in 1942 he went to Philadelphia to work as a chemist at the Philadelphia Shipyard for the Army. Another science fiction writer, Robert Heinlein, worked there with him.

In February 1942, on Valentine's Day, Asimov met on a “blind date” with Gertrude Blugerman. On July 26 they got married. From this marriage was born a son, David (English: David) (1951) and a daughter, Robyn Joan (English: Robyn Joan) (English: 1955).

From October 1945 to July 1946, Azimov served in the army. Then he returned to New York and continued his education. In 1948, he completed graduate school, received a PhD, and entered a postdoctoral fellowship as a biochemist. In 1949, he became a teacher at Boston University School of Medicine, where he became an assistant professor in December 1951 and an associate professor in 1955. In 1958, the university stopped paying him a salary, but formally kept him in his previous position. By this point, Asimov's income as a writer already exceeded his university salary. In 1979 he was awarded the title of full professor.

In 1970, Asimov separated from his wife and almost immediately began living with Janet Opal Jeppson, whom he met at a banquet on May 1, 1959. (They had previously met in 1956, when he gave her an autograph. Asimov did not remember that meeting at all, and Jeppson considered him an unpleasant person.) The divorce took effect on November 16, 1973, and on November 30, Asimov and Jeppson were married. There were no children from this marriage.

He died on April 6, 1992 from heart and kidney failure due to AIDS, which he contracted during heart surgery in 1983.

Literary activity

Asimov began writing at the age of 11. He began writing a book about the adventures of boys living in a small town. He wrote 8 chapters and then abandoned the book. But an interesting incident happened. Having written 2 chapters, Isaac retold them to his friend. He demanded a continuation. When Isaac explained that this was all he had written for now, his friend asked him to give him the book where Isaac had read the story. From that moment on, Isaac realized that he had a gift for writing and began to take his literary work seriously.

In 1941, the story “Nightfall” was published about a planet rotating in a system of six stars, where night falls once every 2049 years. The story achieved enormous fame (according to Bewildering Stories, it was one of the most famous stories ever published). In 1968, the Science Fiction Writers of America declared Nightfall the best science fiction story ever written. The story was included in anthologies more than 20 times, was filmed twice (unsuccessfully), and Asimov himself later called it “a watershed in my professional career.” The hitherto little-known science fiction writer, who published about 10 stories (and about the same number were rejected), became a famous writer. Interestingly, Asimov himself did not consider “Nightfall” to be his favorite story.

On May 10, 1939, Asimov began writing the first of his robot stories, the story "Robbie." In 1941, Asimov wrote the story “Liar!” about a robot who could read minds. The famous Three Laws of Robotics begin to appear in this story. Asimov attributed the authorship of these laws to John W. Campbell, who formulated them in a conversation with Asimov on December 23, 1940. Campbell, however, said that the idea belonged to Asimov, he only gave it the formulation. In the same story, Asimov coined the word “robotics” (robotics, the science of robots), which entered the English language. In Asimov's translations into Russian, robotics is also translated as “robotics”, “robotics”. Before Asimov, most stories about robots involved them rebelling or killing their creators. Since the early 1940s, robots in science fiction have obeyed the Three Laws of Robotics, although traditionally no science fiction writer except Asimov explicitly cites these laws.

In 1942, Asimov began the Foundation series of novels. Initially, "Foundation" and the stories about robots belonged to different worlds, and only in 1980 Asimov decided to combine them.

Since 1958, Asimov began to write much less fiction and much more popular science literature. From 1980 he resumed writing science fiction with the continuation of the Foundation series.

Asimov's three favorite stories were "The Last Question", "The Bicentennial Man" and "The Ugly Little Boy", in that order. My favorite novel was The Gods Themselves.

Publicistic activity

Most of the books written by Asimov are popular science, and in a variety of fields: chemistry, astronomy, religious studies, and a number of others.

And no later January 2

In one of his addresses to readers, Asimov formulated the humanistic role of science fiction in the modern world as follows: “History has reached a point where humanity is no longer allowed to be at enmity. People on Earth must be friends. I have always tried to emphasize this in my works... I don’t think it is possible to make all people love each other, but I would like to destroy hatred between people. And I quite seriously believe that science fiction is one of the links that helps unite humanity. The problems that we raise in science fiction become pressing problems of all humanity... The science fiction writer, the reader of science fiction, science fiction itself serve humanity.”

Biography

Azimov was born (according to documents) on January 2, 1920 in the town of Petrovichi, Smolensk province, RSFSR (now Russkovskoe rural settlement, Shumyachsky district, Smolensk region) into a Jewish family. His parents, Anna Rachel Isaakovna Berman (Anna Rachel Berman-Asimov, -) and Yuda Aronovich Azimov (Judah Asimov, -), were millers. They named him in honor of his late maternal grandfather, Isaac Berman (-). Contrary to Isaac Asimov's later claims that the original family surname was "Ozimov", all remaining relatives in the USSR bear the surname "Azimov".

As a child, Asimov spoke Yiddish and English. In fiction, in his early years, he grew up mainly on the stories of Sholom Aleichem. His parents took him to the USA (“in a suitcase,” as he himself put it), where they settled in Brooklyn and a few years later opened a candy store.

At age 5, Isaac Asimov went to school in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn (he was supposed to start school at age 6, but his mother changed his birthday to September 7, 1919, in order to send him to school a year earlier). After finishing tenth grade in 1935, fifteen-year-old Asimov entered Seth Low Junior College, but the college closed a year later. Asimov entered the chemistry department at Columbia University in New York, where he received a bachelor's degree (B.S.) in 1939 and a master's degree (M.Sc.) in chemistry in 1941 and entered graduate school. However, in 1942, he left for Philadelphia to work as a chemist at the Philadelphia Shipyard for the Army. Another science fiction writer, Robert Heinlein, worked there with him.

In 1970, Asimov separated from his wife and almost immediately got together with Janet Opal Jeppson (English) Russian, whom he met at a banquet on May 1, 1959. (They had previously met in 1956, when he gave her an autograph. Asimov did not remember that meeting, and Jeppson considered him an unpleasant person at the time.) The divorce became effective on November 16, 1973, and on November 30, Asimov and Jeppson were married. There were no children from this marriage.

Main awards

Bibliography

The most famous science fiction works

• The collection of short stories "I, Robot" ("I, Robot"), in which Asimov developed a code of ethics for robots. It was he who wrote the Three Laws of Robotics;
• Cycle about the galactic empire: “Pebble in the Sky” (“Pebble in the sky”), “The Stars, Like Dust” (“Stars like dust”) and “The Currents of Space” (“Cosmic currents”);
• A series of novels “Foundation” (“Foundation”, also this word was translated as “Foundation”, “Foundation”, “Establishment” and “Academy”) about the collapse of the galactic empire and the birth of a new social order;
• The novel “The Gods Themselves” (“The gods themselves”), the central theme of which is that rationalism without morality leads to evil;
• The novel “The End of Eternity” (“The End of Eternity”), which describes Eternity (an organization that controls time travel and changes human history) and its collapse;
• A series about the adventures of a space ranger Lucky Starr.
• The story “The Bicentennial Man” (“Bicentennial Man”), based on which a film of the same name was made in 1999.
• The series “Detective Elijah Bailey and the Robot Daniel Olivo” is a famous cycle of four novels and one story about the adventures of an earthling detective and his partner, a robot cosmonite: “Mother Earth”, “Caves of Steel”, “The Naked Sun”, “Mirror reflection", "Robots of the Dawn", "Robots and Empire", "Murder at ABC".

Almost all of the writer’s cycles, as well as individual works, form the “History of the Future.”