Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series

An Introduction to Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series

The epic space opera series known as the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov has become a reputable classic of the science fiction genre since it's publication. The novels have firmly established Asimov's legacy as one of the "Big Three" of science fiction along with Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein.

The storyline takes place thousands of years in the far future where humanity has explored and colonized a sizable portion of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Galactic Empire has endured for twelve thousand years with millions of planets under its benign sovereignty. The fate of civilization has been sealed as foretold by the scientist and mathematician Hari Seldon, whilst residing on the capitol world of Trantor near the center of the galaxy. With the creation and application of a revolutionary field known as Psychohistory, Seldon predicts and foresees the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire which will ultimately be subsequently followed by a dark era of barbarianism lasting a prodigiously long time period of thirty thousand years before another empire arises. In order to influence events and shorten the interregnum to a mere millennium, Seldon decrees the resettlement of the greatest minds within the Empire to a bleak and enigmatic world known as Terminus at the edge of the galaxy. It is this world where Seldon hopes would serve as a sanctuary for the inception of an establishment to preserve knowledge in order to initiate the salvation of human civilization. The organized plan would henceforth be declared to be known formally as the Foundation. The haven of the proposition would culminate in the development of an Encyclopedia Galactica that will become the guardian of humanity's collective insight.