Psychohistory in action (Foundation - Isaac Asimov)

Member Name: Lady_Muck

Product:	Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Date:	28/08/01 (76 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good and innovative storyline, Well written (as you'd expect from Asimov)

Disadvantages: Can seem disjointed as a single book

Foundation was the first volume written by Asimov on the transition between an ancient empire caught in the final stages of collapse and decay, and a new, bright future in the form of his Foundations.

The story begins on Trantor, where a young mathematician named Gaal Dornick arrives to see the Psychohistorian Hari Seldon, and finds out about the impending fall of the empire and that plans are afoot to form two secure bastion against the decay at opposite ends of the galaxy, one on the planet Terminus, the other at 'Star's End', where the nuclei of a new empire would be nurtured for a thousand years.

It should be explained here that Psychohistory is a method of predicting future events using trends, where the larger the group of people involved, the greater the accuracy of the predictions.

The planet of Terminus is made home to the Encyclopedia Galactica (which is revealed to be something more and less than it seems later in the book), and it seemed to remain isolated from the regression that hit other planets, possibly because the colonists had very few resources to count on in the first place. It was there that Seldon had predicted the first 'Seldon Crisis' would occur, but this was defeated primarily by Salvor Hardin, mayor of Terminus city.

The second crisis that is dealt with in the book centres on the traders, specifically Hober Mallow, and again after a fashion this too was beaten according to the Seldon Plan.

As a single book, Foundation is nothing special, it contains a good story, it is well written, but at first glance seems rather disjointed, almost as if it were written as three separate stories, with inbuilt references to the others. The beauty of the story, however, comes when the other parts are read, it then turns into part of a greater story, and the seams that could be seen in the individual tale fade out as more and more of the underlying fabric is discovered.

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