Foundation Study Guide

Isaac Asimov was born in Petrovichi, Russia, to a Jewish family and emigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of three, settling in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, he worked in his family’s candy store, where he developed a fascination with science fiction after discovering pulp magazines. A gifted student, Asimov skipped several grades in school and went on to attend Columbia University, earning his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1939. He completed his master’s in 1941 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1948. During World War II, he worked as a civilian chemist at the Naval Air Experimental Station in Philadelphia. Asimov’s writing career began early when he sold his first story, “Marooned off Vesta,” to Amazing Stories in 1939, and by 1941, he had published the short story “Nightfall,” which is still regarded as one of the greatest science fiction stories ever written. His career skyrocketed in the 1940s, a period known as the Golden Age of Science Fiction. During this time, he began writing the stories that would later form the Foundation series, inspired by Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In addition to Foundation, Asimov is famous for his Robot series, including I, Robot (1950), which introduced the “Three Laws of Robotics”—a framework that has had a lasting impact on discussions of artificial intelligence and ethics. Asimov was also a prolific science communicator, publishing hundreds of nonfiction works on topics ranging from astronomy and biology to Shakespeare and the Bible. Notable nonfiction works include The Intelligent Man’s Guide to Science (1960) and Asimov’s New Guide to Science (1984). By the end of his life, Asimov had authored or edited more than 500 books and thousands of essays, making him one of the most prolific writers in history. He passed away in 1992 from heart and kidney failure, complications from HIV, which he contracted during a blood transfusion.

Foundation was written during a period of intense global change, beginning during World War II and continuing into the early years of the Cold War. The novel reflects the political and ideological struggles of the mid-20th century, particularly the decline of old empires and the emergence of new global superpowers. The Galactic Empire’s slow collapse mirrors the waning influence of colonial powers such as Britain and France. Asimov’s concept of psychohistory, a science that predicts large-scale societal behavior, reflects the growing interest in statistical analysis, sociology, and the potential of big data during the 20th century. This was a time when advances in computing and mathematics began to revolutionize fields such as economics, military strategy, and political science. Psychohistory also aligns with the rise of systems thinking, a discipline that analyzes how interconnected parts of society influence one another. Additionally, the geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, with their competing ideologies and spheres of influence, finds echoes in Foundation’s depiction of the struggles between the decaying Empire and the emerging Foundation.

Foundation is heavily inspired by Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which chronicles the collapse of the Roman Empire and the forces that contributed to its eventual disintegration. Asimov used this historical framework to construct the fall of the Galactic Empire and the rise of the Foundation, blending historical analysis with speculative science fiction. The Foundation series is also deeply connected to Asimov’s Robot series, which includes I, Robot and The Caves of Steel, as well as his Galactic Empire series. Over the course of his career, Asimov unified these works into a single narrative universe, tracing humanity’s development from Earth-bound civilizations to the rise and fall of galactic empires. Other literary works that resonate with Foundation include Frank Herbert’s Dune, which similarly examines the dynamics of empire, religion, and power, albeit with a stronger focus on ecological and mystical themes. Similarly, Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama and 2001: A Space Odyssey explore humanity’s relationship with advanced technology and its role in shaping our collective destiny. Outside of science fiction, the series has thematic parallels with Tolstoy’s War and Peace, particularly in its exploration of historical determinism versus individual agency.