Foundation series

## Genre Information

Science Fiction Adventure
colonization

Classic Sci Fi
Hard Sci Fi

 (Series Content Ratings Click on Explicit Ratings for details.)

## About the Series

* **Genres:** Classic Sci Fi, Hard Sci Fi, Adventure, colonization
* **Theme:**
* **Narrative style:**

## Series Description

The premise of the stories is that, in the waning days of a future Galactic Empire, the mathematician Hari Seldon spends his life developing a theory of psychohistory, a new and effective mathematical sociology. Using statistical laws of mass action, it can predict the future of large populations. Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a Dark Age lasting 30,000 years before a second empire arises. Although the momentum of the Empire's fall is too great to stop, Seldon devises a plan by which "the onrushing mass of events must be deflected just a little" to eventually limit this interregnum to just one thousand years.

## Books in order

* Foundation (Foundation series Book 1) (1951)
* Foundation and Empire (Foundation series Book 2) (1952)
* Second Foundation (Foundation series Book 3) (1953)

Together they introduced the idea of Psychohistory, and the potential for predicting and possibly managing future social development.

Many years after that, Asimov wrote several new novels as sequel and prequels.

* Foundation's Edge (Foundation series Book 4) (1982)
* Foundation and Earth (Foundation series Book 5) (1986)
* Prelude to Foundation (Foundation series Book 6) (1988)
* Forward the Foundation (Foundation series Book 7) (1993)

Standalone novel, loosely connected to the Robot/Empire/Foundation series, about a time-altering organization

* The End of Eternity (1955)

### Adaptations

BBC produced a Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation radio serialization in 1973.

A Foundation (television series) is being produced and is expected to air in 2020.

## World Building

### World

#### Psychohistory

It is a fictional science created in the *Foundation series*. It was invented by Hari Seldon, a scientist. It is a science of future behavior of large masses of people. People can be treated like the molecules of a gas: they are millions but the gas itself (humanity) can be treated as a unit. This science worked over several million people (the human population of the galaxy in the times of the Foundation) and predicted the behavior of humanity as a whole.

Seldon predicted the fall of the Galactic Empire which was governing the galaxy at that time. He predicted there would be 25000 years of darkness, but he could shrink it to 1000 if some minor changes could be performed. For that, he created a "Foundation" of encyclopedists in a far planet. The Encyclopedia was a trick to fool the Emperor. The real plans of the Foundation were to advance scientifically and to get and create weapons so they would become invincible. This Foundation would later attack the Empire, emerging as the conquerors and would try to revive the lost empire. He created also a "Second Foundation" which would have mental powers. The first Foundation would know nothing about the second, for his plans to be accomplished successfully. He then located the Second Foundation on "the opposite side of the galaxy" with respect to the former.

Nevertheless, Seldon could never predict the destiny of individuals with his science. So he could not predict the rise of a new human being, a mutant called "The Mule" who had mental powers and could manipulate the emotions of others.

That is the universe of the Foundation series, or Trantor universe as it is called, honoring the name of the planet where the Foundation is. Asimov himself confessed that this Galactic Empire was inspired by the historical Roman Empire. So, the thousand of years of darkness was the era called The Dark Ages. There are some characters directly inspirited by the Roman Empire, like the General Bel Riose who is thought to be inspired by Flavius Belisarius, the last great general of the Roman Empire during the 6th century.

## Book Descriptions

*For more info, see the individual book links above*