Isaac Asimov
Who was Isaac Asimov?
American writer and biochemist (1920–1992)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Isaac Asimov (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Isaac Asimov, born around January 2, 1920, in Petrovichi, Russia, and passing away on April 6, 1992, in Manhattan, New York, was an American writer and biochemistry professor at Boston University. Throughout his prolific career, he wrote or edited over 500 books and around 90,000 letters and postcards, making him one of the most productive authors ever. He is considered one of the 'Big Three' science fiction writers of the twentieth century, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke.
Before Fame
Asimov moved to the United States as a young child and grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where his family owned a candy store. He read a lot from an early age, devouring science fiction pulp magazines from the store's shelves. He went to Boys High School in Brooklyn and then to Columbia University, where he got his undergraduate degree and later his Ph.D. in biochemistry. His first short stories were published in science fiction magazines in the late 1930s, when he was still a teenager, setting him up for his future success as a writer.
Key Achievements
- Authored or edited more than 500 books spanning science fiction, mystery, popular science, history, and literary criticism
- Created the Foundation series and the Robot series, two of the most influential story universes in science fiction
- Won the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1973 for 'The Gods Themselves'
- Formulated the Three Laws of Robotics, which have had a lasting impact on both science fiction and real-world discussions of artificial intelligence ethics
- Served as a professor of biochemistry at Boston University while maintaining one of the most prolific writing careers in publishing history
Did You Know?
- 01.Asimov's novelette 'Nightfall' was voted the best short science fiction story of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1964, despite having been published in 1941.
- 02.He wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels under the pen name Paul French to keep them separate from his main body of work.
- 03.Asimov served as president of the American Humanist Association and was named Humanist of the Year in 1984.
- 04.He famously suffered from a severe fear of flying and traveled almost exclusively by land and sea throughout his adult life.
- 05.The Foundation series, which began as a series of short stories in the 1940s, won the one-time Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series in 1966, an award created specifically to honor it.
Family & Personal Life
Awards & Honors
| Award | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Hugo Award | 1963 | — |
| James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry | 1965 | — |
| Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series | 1966 | — |
| Humanist of the Year | 1984 | — |
| Edward E. Smith Memorial Award | 1967 | — |
| Nebula Award for Best Novel | 1973 | — |
| Locus Award for Best Novel | 1973 | — |
| Hugo Award for Best Novel | 1973 | — |
| Klumpke-Roberts Award | 1975 | — |
| Nebula Award for Best Novelette | 1977 | — |
| Locus Award for Best Novelette | 1977 | — |
| Hugo Award for Best Novelette | 1977 | — |
| Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel | 1983 | — |
| Hugo Award for Best Novel | 1983 | — |
| Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award | 1987 | — |
| Locus Award for Best Short Story | 1987 | — |
| Hugo Award for Best Novelette | 1992 | — |
| Hugo Award for Best Related Work | 1995 | — |
| Retro Hugo Award for Best Novel | 1996 | — |
| Cosmos 2000 Award | 1985 | — |
| Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame | 1997 | — |
| Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry | — | — |
| Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences | — | — |
| Retro Hugo Award for Best Novelette | 2018 | — |
| Retro Hugo Award for Best Short Story | 2016 | — |
| Ditmar Award | — | — |
| Great Immigrants Award | 2006 | — |
| Locus Award for Best Reprint Anthology/Collection | 1975 | — |