This novel takes place in the far distant future, when humans have settled the whole galaxy. The origins of humanity, on the legendary "Earth," have been all but forgotten. The Galactic Empire is dying, and a small colony of scientists (the "Foundation") are struggling to survive the subsequent dark ages.

First, the bad news: The book is, in some respects, very dated. In this distant future, women all but do not exist. Asimov could imagine a radically changed society, but apparently not in this one respect. There is one female character in the entire book, a nagging wife, who gets less than a page of dialogue. Because of this, I could never entirely forget the 1951 publishing date. Apparently, in 1951, the possibility that women might participate in scholarship, science, politics, and business seemed more remote and unlikely than the accurate prediction of history through the mathematical science of "psychohistory."

The truth is officially stranger than fiction.

(Foundation is further evidence that midcentury 20th century culture was markedly more sexist than the previous Victorian era, when women were at least acknowledged to have interesting personalities worth writing about.)

That aside, this is clever, fun, appropriately scary sci-fi, and I recommend it. The history of Foundation eerily echoes European medieval history - the fall of Empire, followed by dark ages, the rule of religion and superstition, the advent of early capitalism, making this a strikingly intelligent read. But again, this book is a product of its time, as can be seen by Asimov's derisive dismissal of religion and borderline-worship of science and free trade - or maybe that's just sci-fi. But the fact that it is clearly an ideological child of its time does not make the book less interesting - rather, it makes it more so.

I second other reviewers who note that this is not exactly an emotionally-engaging read. The generational parade of clever male politicians are not exactly relatable. But as a plot/idea based novel, Foundation is good fun and well worth a read.