Prelude to Foundation

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a b Sneider, Jeff (10 November 2014). " 'Interstellar's' Jonah Nolan Developing 'Foundation' Series for HBO, WBTV (Exclusive)". TheWrap . Retrieved 11 November 2014. Asimov, Isaac (2020-11-17). Foundation and Earth. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-593-15999-6. Seldon then meets reporter Chetter Hummin, who convinces him that Cleon's first minister, Eto Demerzel, is attempting to capture him, and that it is therefore imperative for Seldon to escape and try to make psychohistory practical. He is taken by Hummin to Streeling University, one of the top ranked of the Empire and introduced to Dors Venabili by Hummin. Seldon theorizes that the first development of psychohistory requires a smaller, yet still significant sample than the entire Empire, possibly just the original world where humans originated...which is now lost, along with much of the older historical records. In fact, the 50 were volunteers who sacrificed themselves so that humanity's collective behavior would once again be predictable and follow the mathematics of the Seldon Plan. The Second Foundation itself, however, is finally revealed to be located on the former Imperial homeworld of Trantor. The clue "at Star's End" was not a physical clue, but was instead based on an old saying, "All roads lead to Trantor, and that is where all stars end."

Critics have been somewhat harsh on this entry, and not without reason, the most fundamental perhaps being that Seldon's quest for a workable psychohistory just isn't all that compelling. What made the earlier novels so memorable was exploring the limits of psychohistory and seeing whether the next great challenge was acidic enough to dissolve the Seldon Plan. The cerebral acrobatics of navigating the contours of each successive crisis as the Galaxy tests its fate against the provisions of ancient prophecies forms the bread and butter of the Foundation series. Sure, Prelude contains all the twists and bombshell reveals characteristic of Asimovian fiction, but the humble beginnings of Seldon's Big Idea fail to reach the epic heights imparted by the settings that have so endeared generations of readers.Phillips, Nelson; Zyglidopoulos, Stelios (November 1999). "Learning from Foundation: Asimov's Psychohistory and the Limits of Organization Theory". Organization. 6 (4): 591–608. doi: 10.1177/135050849964002. S2CID 145493820. Prelude to Foundation is the first book in the Foundation series. However, it was written second to last. It is different from the others as it has Hari Seldon as an actual character instead of just a figurehead. It tells how Hari Seldon meets Chetter Hummin (who later turns out to be a robot) and Dors Venabili. A Second Foundation trilogy of prequels was written after Asimov's death by three authors, authorized by the Asimov estate. These included Foundation's Fear (1997) by Gregory Benford, Foundation and Chaos (1998) by Greg Bear, and Foundation's Triumph (1999) by David Brin. [15] Cultural impact [ edit ] Impact in nonfiction [ edit ] What is unique about Prelude, however slight a difference it makes in the end, is that Hari Seldon is widely thought to be modeled after Asimov himself. Ruthlessly logical, chronically inquisitive and never satisfied he has the final answer in hand, Seldon is the hardened intellectual Asimov embodied throughout his illustrious career. The recurring problem, however—and Prelude once again fails to break the mold—is the supporting cast, who is every bit as effortlessly logical and thorough as Seldon. Each of the characters he interacts with, even the oppressed women on Mycogen, go toe to toe with Seldon's brilliance. They speak the same way, they reason the same way. The criticisms of previous entries thus still stand: the dialogue reads largely as an exchange between scholars than as variegated, down-to-earth human beings with diverse flaws and personalities and cognitive talents to boot. It's all the more ironic given that social complexity is presented as the critical plot device underwriting psychohistory's evolution from concept to reality.

Olivaw explains that he has been instrumental in guiding human history for thousands of years, having provided the impetus for Seldon to create psychohistory and also the creation of Gaia, but is now close to the end of his ability to maintain himself and will shortly cease to function. Despite replacing his positronic brain (which contains 20,000 years of memories), he is going to die shortly. He explains that no further robotic brain can be devised to replace his current one, or which will let him continue assisting for the benefit of humanity. However, some additional time can be won to ensure the long-term benefit of humanity by merging R. Daneel Olivaw's mind with the organic intellect of a human – in this case, the intellect of the child that the group rescued on Solaria. For Pace, who plays various Emperor Cleon clones, the brilliance of the series is in how it centers this millennia-spanning story around several characters who have found a way to live forever. In the case of Cleon, that means cloning himself over and over so he can live (and rule) forever. The novel starts out with Hari arriving on Trantor for the first time to present a paper on his yet undeveloped "Psychohistory" to a mathematics symposium. As the book proceeds it leads you through an exploration of the technology, government and various social structures of Trantor, all of which serve to provide the foundation (sorry) for Hari’s later development of Psychohistory. Asimov, Isaac. La edad de oro II. Plaza & Janes. 1987. pp. 252–253 (Spanish language translation of The Early Asimov) See afterword for the "Legal Rites" story. Mother Rittah is a local prophet of Billibotton in the Dahl sector who gives Seldon information regarding Earth, as well as "Da-Nee" and "Ba-Lee", R. Daneel Olivaw and the Baley family, respectively (see also the Robot series article).

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In November 2014, TheWrap reported that Jonathan Nolan was writing and producing a TV series based on the Foundation Trilogy for HBO. [35] Nolan confirmed his involvement at a Paley Center event on April 13, 2015. [36] In 1998, the novel Spectre (part of the Shatnerverse series) by William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens states that the Mirror Universe divergent path has been studied by the Seldon Psychohistory Institute. Rashelle attempts to launch her coup, but Eto Demerzel skillfully subverts Wye's troops and puts a stopper to the rebellion before it can happen. When he arrives to Wye, Seldon finds out that "Hummin" is actually Demerzel.

The action then shifts to the Dahl sector, where Seldon and Venabili rent rooms from a middle-class family. While in Dahl, they meet a guttersnipe named Raych, whom Seldon later adopts. Also in Dahl, they are told by an old wise woman that the Aurora of the Mycogenians is not the original world, but actually the "enemy" of the original human planet, called Earth. (This links with the Robot series.) In The Currents of Space every region and every planet in the galaxy has been explored and most habitable planets have been settled for centuries or millennia. The planet Trantor, near the center of the galaxy, that probably was not even discovered in the era of The Stars Like Dust, has been settled for so long and advanced in population and industry so much that it has conquered half the galaxy. Nobody knows which planet Humans originated on - Earth is merely one candidate. Adams, Douglas (2005). "Chapter 2". The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. New York: Del Rey/Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-307-41713-8. And this dovetails directly with the alignment problem in AI—the notion that the goals of superintelligent AI may ultimately prove inconsistent with human well-being or the preservation of our species. Any dynamic, self-modifying superintelligence will eventually understand human behavior at the level of the brain. At that point, their intelligence and capabilities will have far surpassed our own and we may come to be viewed as lesser beings, of trivial consequence to the universe. The fundamental worry is that sufficiently advanced AI will graduate from mechanical servants to omniscient overlords and treat us the way we treat cattle or insects. Perhaps then we would need something like an AI Mule on our side to out-manipulate rogue AI. The future of AI systems will be nothing if not interesting.

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sortTitle Prelude to Foundation Foundation Series Book 01 crossRefId 785957 series Foundation id 227870E7-4592-4C37-96FE-45070A1BA762 starRating 4.1 OverDrive MetaData isPublicDomain False formats Though Isaac Asimov was a remarkable scientific divulgator, we cannot forget that one of the most fascinating cycles of ancient science fiction, i.e. the Foundation series, was born from his pen. Thanks to his work, Asimov can be rightly considered one of the earliest and most direct inspiring of Hari Seldon, the founder of Psichohistory, the science of human behavior reduced to mathematical equations" ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA Second prequel of the Foundation series, the novel takes place on Trantor 8 years after the first prequel Prelude to Foundation. The main character is once again Hari Seldon, committed to the development and practical application of Psychohistory. Despite the time frame of the narration is quite long (basically the entire Seldon's life is narrated in this book), the rythm of events is intensive, and twists and turns are not missing. However, I would now like to make a clarification: my judgment is definitely not objective, 'cause I love Asimov's spying fantasy science and his fascinating theory of spatial colonization. On Trantor during the reign of Cleon I, Hari Seldon is at a mathematical convention, presenting Psychohistory as a purely hypothetical yet interesting possibility. Cleon's First Minister, Eto Demerzel, sees the potential importance of Psychohistory and convinces Cleon to meet with the young Hari Seldon. Cleon hopes to use Psychohistory for political gain. After an interview with Hari, however, Cleon concludes that Hari is of no use to the Empire. Hari's first step of his Flight is the district of Streeling, whose university is one of the greatest in Trantor. Here, Hari meets Dors Venabili, who becomes his main companion as he tries to come up with a way to make Psychohistory a practical science. Thinking that the weather behavior above the domes might bring some insight, Seldon joins a meteorological expedition, but while alone he sees a flying platform hovering close, and he runs from it thinking the Emperor may have sent it, only to get lost. Dors manages to find him, though, and the duo return to the surface, where they find Hummin.

U.S. Economist Krugman Wins Nobel Prize in Economics". PBS. Archived from the original on 2014-01-22 . Retrieved 2017-08-28.

In his 1996 book To Renew America, U. S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote that he was influenced by reading the Foundation trilogy in high school. [18] In 1995, Donald Kingsbury wrote "Historical Crisis", which he later expanded into a novel, Psychohistorical Crisis. It takes place about 2,000 years after Foundation, after the founding of the Second Galactic Empire. It is set in the same fictional universe as the Foundation series, in considerable detail, but with virtually all Foundation-specific names either changed (e.g., Kalgan becomes Lakgan), or avoided (psychohistory is created by an unnamed, but often-referenced Founder). The novel explores the ideas of psychohistory in a number of new directions, inspired by more recent developments in mathematics and computer science, as well as by new ideas in science fiction itself. I don't have one particular favourite scene but I loved diving into the world of the empire and following Harry and Dors around. The different worlds and sectors made the book exciting and has now lead me to listen to all the books in this (The Foundation) series. This novel is told as a sequence of short stories, as was the case with the original trilogy. They take place at intervals a decade or more apart, and tell the story of Hari's life, starting about ten years after Prelude and ending with his death. The stories contrast his increasingly successful professional life with his increasingly unsuccessful personal life.