Isaac Asimov

 As a kid, I enjoyed science fiction. My dad grew up in a remote place in the Forties and Fifties and passed in his love of reading and some of his books to me. One of my childhood favourites was Isaac Asimov and the recent Apple TV version of Foundation has made me think about him again. This has left me with mixed feelings about Asimov.

Asimov was born in Russia in around 1920 and moved to America aged 3. He completed a PhD in Chemistry and was in the American army for a time.  He was an intelligent man and a prolific writer and sadly it seems that he was a sleazy bastard.

As a kid I got a lot from his books. My favourites were really the Robot detective books featuring Elijah Bailey such as The Caves of Steel and Robots and Empire. I also enjoyed some of the later Foundation books as well as his detective series the Black Widowers and Azazel. I have great memories of reading these books while visiting family in rural parts of the West Highlands. 

I also read some of his autobiography and found his scientific work inspiring which indirectly led me to my current job and life,

I did not know he was a sleazy bastard who was notorious for his bad behaviour but I guess he died more than 30 years ago when I was a young teenager. 

I only found out about the unpleasant side to Asimov when googling after watching the impressive Foundation TV series. The adaptors (including Asimov’s daughter) have made a good show and have diversified the characters in keeping with the futuristic setting of the story. Im looking forward to further instalments.

Sadly books such as The Caves of Steel are currently out of print on the Kindle and other e-reader devices. After watching Foundation I would love to reread some of them. Maybe someday….