Author: Isaac Asimov
One of the most prolific authors of the 20th century conceived of a science which had not been invented -- psychohistory -- and created a remarkable set of novels around the topic. Set in the far, far future, when humans have settled most of the galaxy, the Empire is losing steam, but only Hari Seldon and his team of psychohistorians can see what to do about it. The resulting fall of civilization will last 30,000 years, unless Seldon can use his knowledge of psychohistory -- a way of describing, and even predicting, the large-scale movements of cultures and masses of people -- to reduce that period to only 1000 years, and preserve the accumulated sum of science and knowledge as it passes.
With a story of this scope, Asimov has to find a way to tell the story over the period of hundreds of years. As this is the first of three (and later, even more) novels, he must cover the first few periods in the decline of the Empire and the influence of Seldon's Foundation. He does this by focusing on the key figures of that span generations, and shows a keen insight into the way science, religion and commerce can effect change and control over populations.
When you finish Foundation, you are left hanging, in a way. It does not take the reader all the way to the end of the Seldon-predicted millennium. But going into it, you know you're reading a trilogy. With this knowledge, it is easy to appreciate the clever story, and still want more.
I certainly do!
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