No one knows the exact date of Isaac Asimov’s birth…not even the amazing Asimov himself! In Memory Yet Green, citing dodgy birth records, the author writes that his birthday could be as early as October 19th, 1919, but that he celebrates it as January 2nd, 1920.
Who are we to argue with Asimov’s calculations? Happy birthday, Professor Asimov!
When you find yourself browsing your local library, dutifully utilizing your excellent knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System, you’ll notice one constant element—books by Isaac Asimov. Aside from the category of Philosophy, you’ll find books authored by Asimov in every single section. From mysteries, to criticism on Shakespeare, to bible studies, and yes, science fiction: Asimov may be one of the most prolific and versatile writers of all time. Asimov himself was quite well aware of his reputation and literary prowess, famously quipping:
“People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.”
An American author of Russian birth, Asimov is credited with coining the term “robotics” and popularizing numerous science fictional and scientific concepts. Indeed, Asimov’s famous three laws of robotics serve as a wonderful narrative mirror to human nature and to the various conundrums our social mores can produce. In the short story “Liar!” a randomly telepathic robot is faced with a paradox between preventing humans from coming to harm and telling them the truth. Robots are supposed to protect humans from harm either through direct or indirect action and this law extends, logically, to the emotional harm of hurt feelings. In order to save the feelings of its human friends, the telepathic robot Herbie begins telling comforting lies: You’ll get that job promotion! That person does love you! The mirror of human desires, wrapped up in our own outward inventions, is rendered painfully clear in this story, a truly excellent example of Asimov’s profound and insightful style.
Asimov was also a champion of the written word and the vital importance of books in our everyday life. Speaking to the American Booksellers Association in 1989, Isaac Asimov asked his audience to imagine a device that “can go anywhere, and is totally portable. Something that can be started and stopped at will along its data stream, allowing the user to access the information in an effective, easy manner.” Asimov then reminded the audience that “we have this device. It’s called the book.” As a humanist, Asimov believed in the transformative power of the written word and the necessity for us to preserve our stories and musings in any way that we can.
In terms of his impact on science fiction as it relates to pop culture, Asimov is certainly a huge influence on those bringing science fiction into the mainstream, partly because of how proudly he asserted his science fiction credentials. Writing in Is Anyone There? Asimov recalls a time when he worried about a pseudonym being required to quarantine his science fiction identity from the rest of his professional life.
“I was prepared for the Homeric battles, for I was determined to have my name on everything I wrote. In the first place, I like my name; in the second place, I am self-centered, in the third place, I am proud of science fiction and of my place in it and I won’t have it insulted. The Homeric battle, alas, never took place. No editor—not one—ever objected to the science fictional halo that rests slantedly over my amiable head.”
We’re admiring that science fictional halo still. Thanks, Professor Asimov—we wouldn’t be the same without you!
This post originally appeared January 2, 2012 on Tor.com.
Ryan Britt is a long-time contributor to Tor.com
I miss him. Today, I will reread the postcards he sent me.
Asimov was some of the first Science Fiction I read and I still enjoy rereading the Foundation and Robot novels. Happy Birthday Mr Asimov.
That Neil Guy – I have to admit I’m a little jealous, enjoy those postcards I imagine they’re priceless to you.
Dr. Asimov joked about the fortuity of his January 2 birthday. According to the Epilogue of his memoir, I. Asimov, his diary entry for January 2, 1991 recorded his delight at having it mentioned as a celebratory cure for the post-holiday blahs in the comic strip, Garfield. (Picture Garfield in conical party hat and blowing noisemaker at Jon and Odie: “Happy Birthday, Isaac Asimov!”) “Probably gave me more exposure than I’ve ever had before!,” he wrote.
The Good Doctor, the Kindly Editor and the Gentle Reader dialogs in the Astounding and (later) Asimov’s demonstrated the affectionate relationship Dr. A had with his audience. I grew up with both his fiction and non-fiction; Only a Trillion inspired my career as well as introducing me to Thiotimoine. I re-read the robot novels and the Foundation series regularly. Happy Birthday, Issac Asimov!
Not surprizing. My father was born in 1920 at home, as most babies were. He was pretty sure he was born on Oct. 15th, but there was no way to be certain. His parents were imigrants with limited English and getting to the church and city hall to register his birth presented certain obstacles. In post revolutionary, post WWI Russia I imagine similar problems in addition to record keeping being low on the list of priorities.
I remember that shortly after his passing, there was a joke going around that soon we’d see materializing on bookstore shelves a volume titled ASIMOV’S GUIDE TO THE AFTERLIFE.
His non-fiction is getting hard to find. I wish someone would update the science essays and get them back into print! For that matter, I wish the histories and guide to Shakespeare were available too.
Asimov was the single largest influence on my childhood interest in science – and the rest of the Dewey categories. And SF of course.
Of course, as Asimov made marvelously clear in the Foundation trilogy, specific predictions of the future are notoriously unreliable. Here’s a postcard he sent to me back in 1979 http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2008/10/postcard-from-isaac-asimov-to-me-from.html
It’s interesting to run Heinlein and Asimov through ngram:
http://tinyurl.com/k9ewljy
All those non-fiction books certainly helped Asimov’s profile. I did a little checking a couple of years back and discovered the local libraries still stock a lot more Asimov books than Heinlein (of course there were more IA books to stock than RAH books).
Asimov being a noted serial harasser at cons clashes somewhat with the whole halo angle.
Perfect timing. I’m in the middle of reading Asimov’s complete Foundation series, starting with his robot short stories. Robots of Dawn just showed up on my Kindle before I saw this birthday notice.
Happy birthday Mr. Serial Groper. A more fitting representative of science ficiton it’s hard to imagine.
@Sigh SeanOHara – sigh why do people always have to tarnish the greats?
I was ready to be upset at the slanted Halo comment since I know this site has issues with the golden age of science fiction. I can’t though if he used the term himself – and I should have known he would have. It really isn’t bragging when it is true and he really was a Genius God. Especially in Science Fiction. The foundation novels stand as some of the best science fiction that will ever be written.
Truly a god among men. Thank you Asimov for gracing us with your presence and your work.
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zaldar, no one tarnished Asimov. He did it himself with his notoriously sexist and harassing behavior. Not what I expect from a “God among men” and it makes it hard for me to read him anymorez
Unless the god in question was Zeus. In that case…
My earliest awareness of having a political philosophy came about twelve when I read—and loathed—Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. A guy who, even then, hadn’t been been able to limit his trilogy to three books was, nevertheless, championing the idea that People Like Him ought to be running , in great secrecy, an entire galaxy.
People who think they’re the most qualified to run the lives are others are the least qualified to do so. And near the front of that list I would place this Asimov of the Uncertain Birthday.
Truely the visionary that he wrote in his works, Dr. Asimov clearly explained the future of our world by the inexorable future of the galaxy. He has humas and mecha relationships in his right pocket, given to us in terms we all can understand. How is it, that we keep getting it wrong?
I miss you, your mind, your heart and your works. God bless you Isaac!
Heh, super neat. I like that his (supposed) birthday is a day before Tolkien’s.
And I had never read that part about his worrying about the battles around his name. What a guy.
Here are my Asimov book reviews if you are interested:
https://leviathanbound.wordpress.com/tag/isaac-asimov/.
Take care!
A comprehensive, balanced, warts and all biography of Asimov is badly needed. His own memoirs are interesting but he’s an unreliable narrator.
Could not the Foundation series taken together not be classed as philosophy?
Interesting the old comments are here too. But I haven’t heard about the serial groping before and I expect it was overstated. He was great in philosophy, intelligence and writing. Truly a great and classic sci-fi author
@21 Why would you suspect that the groping is overstated? The piece linked to in @12 includes correspondence to and from Asimov in which he actually admits to the groping behavior, and is willing to give a public presentation on the fact that he will grope women in public. And he thinks that such a presentation will improve the convention.
So he’s not only admitting to personal acts of public sexual assault, he also was willing to publicly encourage other men to such behavior, and makes it clear that he thinks women can and should expect and accept such attacks.
And that’s his own writing, not anyone accusing him of anything.
I’d like to think that if Dr. A. were still around, by now someone would have explained to him why what he was doing was unacceptable.
I’d like to think that he would have been horrified when he realized what he had done, and that he would have put considerable effort into making amends. That he would be mortified by the presence, in his own writings, of his earlier statements in favor of such behavior, and that he would write fascinating essays about the importance of an accurate historical record even if it says things we’d rather it didn’t.
I’d like to think that. But I know that liking an idea doesn’t make it true.
I try to dance by his algorithms. The windows in my house of adobe look upon the apple tree. I speak, in a basso profundo, a virtual google of poetic binaries to the eternal feminine.
As Saint Asimov himself was wont to say, decline the oracles to the last figment of your imagination.
@22 I expect they are overstated for several reasons I admit I may be wrong however. (1) I am unfamiliar with the source that was linked so I can’t judge its veracity but the fact I am not familiar with it goes against it as I know most mainstream sources of this type. The sources name also seems to be going for an anti-establishment vibe, this doesn’t make it any more trustworthy. (2) This is also the first time I have heard of any of this, as he was very famous for a very long time it seems like someone would have tried to sue him or it would have been talked about in a larger forum. Yes it was the 80s/90s but it wasn’t so bad then that nothing would have been said. I mean if what he was accused of was real that would be assault and he could have been sued for a lot of money, and the document where he admits it would have been evidence #1. (3) The comment was very anti-science fiction (I can’t think of a more fitting ambassador for science fiction) which makes it seem like the original poster (whose name I do not recognize) was on some sort of anti Asimov vendetta – this immediately makes it suspect to my mind. (4) There seems to be a movement in modern society to take great people and try really hard to find bad things about them to make them seem less great. Sports figures, Authors, etc. it is almost as if heroes have become a bad thing. It seems to be mixed up in some notion of equality, where no one can be objectively “better” at anything than anyone else. This isn’t a movement I support, and anything that smacks of it I tend to suspect.
All of the above said I could very well be wrong. Phelps was a hero of mine but he seems to have smoked weed, Armstrong took steroids. Cosby may be a rapist. It would sadden me if Asimov was as sexist as above implies but it is certainly possible.
Of all those who are commenting on this site, are any of you old enough to remember when Asimov was building this “sexual predator” identity? I’m 63. I was around then, in my 20s, and attending cons. I met Asimov (and kissed him). Is any of this harassment stuff going on about Harlan Ellison?
I ask because the whole thing started when Ellison and Asimov, who were friendly rivals, began a mock competition for the attention of female fans. It was a massive joke, a standing rivalry that was carried on for years, all in fun. Can’t anyone else see the tongue-in-cheek humor of that correspondence? Sheesh.
My brief experience with Asimov showed me a delightful man, charming, sweet, and well-mannered, but also willing to plunge into anything for the fun of it. He had a razor-sharp wit that he didn’t mind turning on himself. I’m sorry to see that a great author and good man can’t escape calumny after death. RIP, Isaac.
Our idols have feet of clay.
Learning how to accept that is part of the process of growing up.
One can still admire their admirable qualities while condemning their less commendable traits.
Our heroes were human, and humans have flaws. Who does it benefit to deny this?
Asimov was not a pervert. I met him at a convention and asked him to write me a limerick – something he was constantly doing at the time. He did so, and while the limerick was risqué – because they are supposed to be – he was a gentleman to me
Asimov was playful. People shouldn’t make too much of that. He wasn’t trying to make political statement.