Difference between revisions of "Isaac Asimov"
(Added a small fact to assist familiarity.) |
(Just touching it up a bit with a few more facts about the man; also, claiming that the film "I, Robot" was a 'faithful recreation' of the book is dubious, given the original protagonist in the film.) |
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| − | '''''Isaac Asimov''''' was a [[Jew|Jewish]] [[atheist]] | + | '''''Isaac Asimov''''' was a [[Jew|Jewish]] [[atheist]] (or more strictly [[Humanist]]) of [[Russian]] descent, whose parents emigrated to the United States from the [[Soviet Union]] when he was three years of age. He is often viewed as one of the "Big Three" of so-called classic science fiction, along with [[Arthur C. Clarke]] and [[Robert Heinlein]], both of whom he viewed as friends. |
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| + | While he is predominantly viewed as a [[science fiction]] writer, he produced works on many subjects both fiction and nonfiction; of particular note are his works on astronomy and his books of collected essays. He also possessed a doctorate in [[biochemistry]] from Columbia University. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of the Twentieth or, indeed, any century; a conservative estimate puts him as the author of more than three hundred books. | ||
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| + | Though he was never vocal against religion, he had little tolerance for those he viewed as crackpots, such as strict creationists, and viewed Judaism and Christianity both as mythologies comparable to Greek myth and other folklore. Despite this, he viewed the Bible itself as a notable work of literature, publishing several nonfiction books about both the [[Bible]] and the [[Book of Ruth]], among others. The works which tend to be most strongly associated with him remain ''I, Robot'', a collection of his short stories about the existential dichotomy of artificial intelligence (which was somewhat less-than-faithfully recreated in the Hollywood title of the same name starring [[Will Smith]]), as well as the Foundation series, a work sometimes viewed as the first in the genre of "future histories". He died on April 6, 1992 of complications due to [[AIDS]], which he contracted via a tainted blood transfusion during a heart bypass operation. | ||
[[Category: biographies]] | [[Category: biographies]] | ||
Revision as of 16:21, March 15, 2007
Isaac Asimov was a Jewish atheist (or more strictly Humanist) of Russian descent, whose parents emigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union when he was three years of age. He is often viewed as one of the "Big Three" of so-called classic science fiction, along with Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein, both of whom he viewed as friends.
While he is predominantly viewed as a science fiction writer, he produced works on many subjects both fiction and nonfiction; of particular note are his works on astronomy and his books of collected essays. He also possessed a doctorate in biochemistry from Columbia University. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of the Twentieth or, indeed, any century; a conservative estimate puts him as the author of more than three hundred books.
Though he was never vocal against religion, he had little tolerance for those he viewed as crackpots, such as strict creationists, and viewed Judaism and Christianity both as mythologies comparable to Greek myth and other folklore. Despite this, he viewed the Bible itself as a notable work of literature, publishing several nonfiction books about both the Bible and the Book of Ruth, among others. The works which tend to be most strongly associated with him remain I, Robot, a collection of his short stories about the existential dichotomy of artificial intelligence (which was somewhat less-than-faithfully recreated in the Hollywood title of the same name starring Will Smith), as well as the Foundation series, a work sometimes viewed as the first in the genre of "future histories". He died on April 6, 1992 of complications due to AIDS, which he contracted via a tainted blood transfusion during a heart bypass operation.