Isaac Asimov in 712 words

"Over a space of 40 years, I published an average of 1,700 words a day."

Child prodigy, renowned science fiction and non-fiction writer Dr.Isaac Asimov calculated this remarkable figure toward the end of his life in 1992. Across the span of 40 years would he come to write nearly five hundred books, each educating and stimulating the minds of thousands then and thousands today. To begin to understand Asimov's legacy, one must examine his childhood, accelerated education and his life as a writer.

After moving to the United States in 1923 from Russia, the five-year-old Asimov was enrolled early into first grade. Already a year ahead of his classmates, Asimov excelled, skipping grades in the process. For this reason, he made few friends as the age gap between his classmates grew. Often times, Asimov learned information so quickly that he was bored in class and was prone to talking out of turn. School aside, Asimov divided his time between the library and the family business. Starting in 1926, the Asimov's ran a series of general stores that sold items ranging from candy to magazines. It was working at the family business would Asimov's first encounter with science fiction occur. Magazines such as "Amazing Stories" soon became his favorite. Beyond the world of science fiction, Asimov was also forced to read non-fiction titles since the library required that of the two books he checked out, one had to be non-fiction. Asimov enjoyed reading so much that he even tried to copy his favorite books by hand. With a rich reading background, Asimov began high school at age twelve.

Unlike elementary school, Asimov was no longer the top of his class in high school. Nevertheless, Asimov was a remarkable student, receiving A's in many classes and graduating at the early age of fifteen. Much of his life remained routine in this time except for his first published piece of work in the school's literary magazine. This spurred Asimov's desire to write his own novels. However, Isaac's father thought otherwise and wanted him to become a doctor. For that reason, Asimov applied to Columbia University where he was initially turned down. Through Seth Low Junior College did he later complete his studies at Columbia.

In college, Asimov worked toward a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. Although remarkable for an eighteen year old, what perhaps was even more important was the publishing of "Marooned Off Vesta" in the Amazing Stories magazine. Asimov continued to write short science fiction stories and was continually accepted in small magazines. In 1939, Asimov published his short story "Robbie" which would lead him to develop his world of robots. It was also at this time that he introduced two of his very well known concepts, the "positronic brain" and the "Three Laws of Robotics". The first allowed Asimov to define his robots as logical thinkers as he explained that positronic brains housed pathways, which positrons had to follow. The second concept allowed him to establish robots as care giving, harmless machines. The three laws of robotics are as follows:

1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by a human being except where such orders would conflict with the First law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second law.

Asimov applied these concepts to all his robots and later on his entire robot series. With two publications down, four hundred and ninety eight were to come of his career.

Writing career aside, Asimov had two children with his first wife Gertrude. Partly due to Asimov spending a great deal of time solely on writing, the two divorced in 1970. Asimov then remained with Jeppson for whom he would spend the remainder of his life with. In the years that would come, Asimov would achieve fame winning awards such as "Best All-Time Novel Series Hugo Award" and "The Nebula Award". By the time Asimov died in 1992 due to kidney and heart failure, he had sealed his place in science fiction history. Today, thousands pick up Asimov's novels dumbfounded by his extraordinary imagination, just as thousands had then.

Author: Roland Saekow (saekow@sbcglobal.net)

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