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Where Do We Go from Here?
Includes:
A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum
Night by Don A. Stuart
The Day is Done by Lester del Rey; Heavy Planet by Milton A. Rothman
"..and he built a Crooked house..." - Heinlein
Proof by Hal Clement
A Subway Named Mobius by A. J. Deutsch & several others.
A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum
Night by Don A. Stuart
The Day is Done by Lester del Rey; Heavy Planet by Milton A. Rothman
"..and he built a Crooked house..." - Heinlein
Proof by Hal Clement
A Subway Named Mobius by A. J. Deutsch & several others.
441 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
12 people are currently reading
516 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,338 books27.7k followersWorks of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles,
The Foundation Trilogy
(1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
March 11, 2016
اين كتاب رو پانزده شانزده سالم بود كه خوندم، اوج علمى-تخيلى خونى م بود. داستان ها از خود آسيموف نيستن، آسيموف گردآورى و نقد كرده. بعضى از داستان هاى اين كتاب و تحليل هاى علمى آسيموف هنوز كه هنوزه يادمه، داستان "جناب غاز" تخم طلا (كه با رفيقم از سر مسخرگى، يه پژوهش هم راجع بهش انجام داديم)، داستان مريخى هايى كه قمر در سطح سياره شون حركت مى كرد و...
March 8, 2023
This is a good collection of classic science fiction stories with a hard emphasis on "science." Asimov's introduction suggests it as a supplement to science texts, which was probably a valid idea at the time. The stories are reprinted from genre science fiction pulps and digests ranging from 1934 to 1966, so they're all obviously dated to one extent or another by now, but I think most are still quite entertaining and thought-provoking. The oldest story is Stanley G. Weinbaum's A Martian Odyssey, closely followed by Night by Don A. Stuart, a pseudonym of John W. Campbell. The most recent is Larry Niven's Neutron Star. Hal Clement has two stories in the book, and there are also memorable pieces from Lester del Rey, Milton A. Rothman, Jerome Bixby, Arthur C. Clarke, James E. Gunn, etc. My favorites are H. Beam Piper's Omnilingual and "--And He Built A Crooked House" by Robert A. Heinlein. One really neat feature is that there's an afterward for each story exploring and explaining the scientific principals involved, and an appendix at the end of the book with suggestions for further scientific reading. Education can be fun!
July 30, 2016
Where Do We Go From Here, a short-story collection assembled by Isaac Asimov, is more than the usual collection of short stories. Asimov introduces it in this way: "I have long maintained that science fiction has potential as an inspiring and useful teaching device. For this anthology, therefore, I have selected seventeen stories which, I think, can inspire curiosity and can lead the students into lines of questioning of his own that may interest and excite him, and may even help determine the future direction of his career. [...] [T]he seventeen stories included are all good ones, clever and exciting in their own right. Anyone who wishes can read them for themselves alone, need make no conscious effort to learn from them, and may totally ignore my own comments after each story. For those who would probe a little deeper, I have placed after each story a few hundred words of commentary in which I talk about the scientific points made in the story, pointing out their validity, or, sometimes, explaining their errors. Finally, after each comment, I have appended a series of suggestions and questions designed to direct the reader's curiosity in fruitful directions."
As said, this is a collection of seventeen science fiction short stories, chosen for both their worth as stories and as science fiction. Asimov believed that good science fiction must have within it good science. The stories come from a variety of authors. A few are well-known names -- Lester del Rey, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke -- but most were new to me. Two stories are by a Hal Clement, and at least one story was written by John Campbell, the editor of Astounding Stories under a pseudonym. After each story, Asimov reveals the year in which the story was published and comments on the author's predictions, assumptions, and so on, ending his commentary with three or four questions that are intended to jog the reader's mind. For instance, at the end of "The Cave of Night", he writes "Gunn has the rescue vessels designed, built, and launched in the space of thirty days. Do you think this is practical? Look up data on the space program and find out how such things take." Another example follows "Dust Rag" : "It is likely that Venus has an iron core, yet it has no magnetic field to speak of. How do we know it has none? Why should it not have one despite the iron core? What about other planets: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn? How do we know?"
Only one story ("Proof") escaped me completely. I was able to enjoy all of the others to varying degrees. The stories seem deliberately chosen to cover the full range of scientific knowledge: in "Omnilingual", the readers join a team of scientists on the surface of Mars as they attempt to learn about a long-dead Martian civilization. This particular chapter concerns language. In "Dust Rag", two men on the surface of the Moon encounter problems with electromagnetism in that their visors become charged and attract lunar dust that is being charged by the Sun. The result is that the visors and the outside of their suits (including air filters) become covered in lunar dust and the astronauts -- in bulky space suits -- have to figure out how to return to their camp or shuttle before they run out of air. In "The Day is Done", we see speculations on human-Neanderthal interaction. Here Asimov posits in his commentary that the Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals may have interbred to produce humans, but this is quite dated. (Asimov died nearly twenty years ago, so he can be forgiven for not considering the last two decades of evidence in regards to Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons.) One of my favorite stories was "Surface Tension", which shows the results of humans modifying the human genome for life on other planets. The particular planet that the story is set on is covered in water and the largest animals are crayfish, so the humans are designed to be microscopic and interact with amoebas and so forth in a story that is completely implausible but very interesting.
I found the book to be tremendously enjoyable: the stories as well as the questions Asimov probed. I wonder if he did any other projects like this. It seems like a good resource for parents with older children or teenagers who want to shape their minds to think scientifically.
As said, this is a collection of seventeen science fiction short stories, chosen for both their worth as stories and as science fiction. Asimov believed that good science fiction must have within it good science. The stories come from a variety of authors. A few are well-known names -- Lester del Rey, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke -- but most were new to me. Two stories are by a Hal Clement, and at least one story was written by John Campbell, the editor of Astounding Stories under a pseudonym. After each story, Asimov reveals the year in which the story was published and comments on the author's predictions, assumptions, and so on, ending his commentary with three or four questions that are intended to jog the reader's mind. For instance, at the end of "The Cave of Night", he writes "Gunn has the rescue vessels designed, built, and launched in the space of thirty days. Do you think this is practical? Look up data on the space program and find out how such things take." Another example follows "Dust Rag" : "It is likely that Venus has an iron core, yet it has no magnetic field to speak of. How do we know it has none? Why should it not have one despite the iron core? What about other planets: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn? How do we know?"
Only one story ("Proof") escaped me completely. I was able to enjoy all of the others to varying degrees. The stories seem deliberately chosen to cover the full range of scientific knowledge: in "Omnilingual", the readers join a team of scientists on the surface of Mars as they attempt to learn about a long-dead Martian civilization. This particular chapter concerns language. In "Dust Rag", two men on the surface of the Moon encounter problems with electromagnetism in that their visors become charged and attract lunar dust that is being charged by the Sun. The result is that the visors and the outside of their suits (including air filters) become covered in lunar dust and the astronauts -- in bulky space suits -- have to figure out how to return to their camp or shuttle before they run out of air. In "The Day is Done", we see speculations on human-Neanderthal interaction. Here Asimov posits in his commentary that the Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals may have interbred to produce humans, but this is quite dated. (Asimov died nearly twenty years ago, so he can be forgiven for not considering the last two decades of evidence in regards to Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons.) One of my favorite stories was "Surface Tension", which shows the results of humans modifying the human genome for life on other planets. The particular planet that the story is set on is covered in water and the largest animals are crayfish, so the humans are designed to be microscopic and interact with amoebas and so forth in a story that is completely implausible but very interesting.
I found the book to be tremendously enjoyable: the stories as well as the questions Asimov probed. I wonder if he did any other projects like this. It seems like a good resource for parents with older children or teenagers who want to shape their minds to think scientifically.
February 16, 2015
Heinlein's "—And He Built a Crooked House—" always stuck with me. I forgot where I got this from, maybe my grandfather. Good collection.
July 9, 2020
This book was interesting enough, as most Isaac Asimov books are, but it’s also true that he was a better writer than he was an editor and so I would have preferred a collection of his own short stories as opposed to those by other authors.
Still, there are some decent enough shorts in here, and we also have an introduction by Asimov and a little additional context on what we’re reading thanks to his notes on each story. Perhaps more unusual was the fact that he also included a bunch of questions for his readers to try to answer. Some of them were so intense that I couldn’t even understand the question and would have had no hope of answering.
Overall, this is probably the weakest of the Asimov books that I’ve come across so far, and even a contribution by both himself (a story I’d already read) and Arthur C. Clarke wasn’t enough to save it. Glad I read it, but I won’t re-read and it was eh.
Still, there are some decent enough shorts in here, and we also have an introduction by Asimov and a little additional context on what we’re reading thanks to his notes on each story. Perhaps more unusual was the fact that he also included a bunch of questions for his readers to try to answer. Some of them were so intense that I couldn’t even understand the question and would have had no hope of answering.
Overall, this is probably the weakest of the Asimov books that I’ve come across so far, and even a contribution by both himself (a story I’d already read) and Arthur C. Clarke wasn’t enough to save it. Glad I read it, but I won’t re-read and it was eh.
September 19, 2021
Jako každá sbírka - obsahuje slabší i lepší povídky, ale když jsem zprůměrovala hodnocení jednotlivých povídek, vychází mi 3,6 - takže 4*. Hodně mě bavila Tevisova hops-kulička, Weinbaumův Ťuíl a Deutschova Podzemní dráha Möbius. Na těchto antologiích mě baví, že se čtenář seznámí s dosud neznámými autory a zároveň si užije těch už oblíbených. A to tady bylo splněno dokonale.
June 5, 2010
'Surface Tension' and the 'Omnilingual' are the least dated, and Asimov's own contribution is one of the weaker stories in the collection. 'Surface Tension' is sort of like Baxter's Flux but underwater instead of on the surface of a neutron star.
I liked the several stories set on Mars which amounted to hard sf at the time but have many now-falsified details. Also good are stories about the very first astronauts, visits to the moon, or nuclear technology written only 5 or 10 years before real developments overtook them.
'Big Bounce' is about flubber, not sure if they Disney movie came out before it or not.
I liked the several stories set on Mars which amounted to hard sf at the time but have many now-falsified details. Also good are stories about the very first astronauts, visits to the moon, or nuclear technology written only 5 or 10 years before real developments overtook them.
'Big Bounce' is about flubber, not sure if they Disney movie came out before it or not.
February 10, 2011
This is my car book for the moment. I keep it in the car and read a little when I have time. The stories are fun and interesting.
May 5, 2019
Great collection of thought provoking sci-fi short stories, with a variety of interesting ideas to explore. Asimov gives some commentary after each entry, explaining the context of the central idea and giving some prompts about scientific avenues of exploration for the reader to follow. Some favourites were Surface Tension, which details the tribulations of a microscopic water-dwelling civilisation's "space" program, and Omnilingual, the only story with a female protagonist, involving her struggle to to find a way to decrypt the ancient Martian language from the writings the dead civilisation left behind.
My quibbles are predictable. The book gives a good survey of science fiction through the ages, starting in 1931, but as it was published in 1971 we don't get any up-to-date content. So we have an outdated focus on Mars as being a life-bearing planet and some strange incongruities: space-farers who use telephones with a "hook" and cameras with "film". Secondly, as mentioned, a complete lack of diversity. Aliens, it seems, were less improbable than female protagonists to the collection of male authors here.
I'd actually love to see the concept re-done for our modern era, incorporating a greater variety of authors and showing how our sci-fi concepts have evolved into the new millenium.
My quibbles are predictable. The book gives a good survey of science fiction through the ages, starting in 1931, but as it was published in 1971 we don't get any up-to-date content. So we have an outdated focus on Mars as being a life-bearing planet and some strange incongruities: space-farers who use telephones with a "hook" and cameras with "film". Secondly, as mentioned, a complete lack of diversity. Aliens, it seems, were less improbable than female protagonists to the collection of male authors here.
I'd actually love to see the concept re-done for our modern era, incorporating a greater variety of authors and showing how our sci-fi concepts have evolved into the new millenium.
May 15, 2021
EN/CZ
This is an inspiring collection of sci-fi stories where Asimov gives some context to each story. The Czech edition I read had also extra questions provided by the Czech editor which deal with the science behind the stories (e.g., asking about conditions on different planets). The stories span quite a range of authors and epochs but seem to be selected to hit some less known authors or motives which makes it even better as an inspiration and as a tool to evade cliches. What is funny today is the classical failing of some of the older stories to anticipate technological changes (e.g., no digital recordings, but all is taped). What is even more interesting, in some cases I was struggling to understand what is going on because the "scifi" technology was so connected to old technology which I am not used to anymore.
CZ
Sbírka povídek vybraná a komentovaná Asimovem, která obsahuje velmi širokou škálu stylů i autorů sci-fi a v tomto vydání je také doprovázena vědeckými otázkami k tématu dané povídky. Osobně jsem rozpětí a zejména neotřelost témat v této sbírce ocenil nejvíce. Jistou třešničkou na dortu je potom zábavnost některých povídek, když očividně minuly technologický vývoj (což není divu). Občas mě i některé technologie zarazily a musel jsem se zamyslet, co to vlastně je.
This is an inspiring collection of sci-fi stories where Asimov gives some context to each story. The Czech edition I read had also extra questions provided by the Czech editor which deal with the science behind the stories (e.g., asking about conditions on different planets). The stories span quite a range of authors and epochs but seem to be selected to hit some less known authors or motives which makes it even better as an inspiration and as a tool to evade cliches. What is funny today is the classical failing of some of the older stories to anticipate technological changes (e.g., no digital recordings, but all is taped). What is even more interesting, in some cases I was struggling to understand what is going on because the "scifi" technology was so connected to old technology which I am not used to anymore.
CZ
Sbírka povídek vybraná a komentovaná Asimovem, která obsahuje velmi širokou škálu stylů i autorů sci-fi a v tomto vydání je také doprovázena vědeckými otázkami k tématu dané povídky. Osobně jsem rozpětí a zejména neotřelost témat v této sbírce ocenil nejvíce. Jistou třešničkou na dortu je potom zábavnost některých povídek, když očividně minuly technologický vývoj (což není divu). Občas mě i některé technologie zarazily a musel jsem se zamyslet, co to vlastně je.
May 2, 2022
Para Onde Vamos? é uma compilação de contos de ficção científica de cunho infanto-juvenil. Mas não pense que por isso os contos são infantilizados.
Isaac Asimov, o organizador da coletânea, é ainda hoje considerado como um dos maiores autores de ficção científica, lado a lado com Julio Verne, Arthur C. Clarke e Carl Sagan. A diferença é que ele sempre tentou fazer o gênero mais acessível e, nesse caso, mais didático.
Todos os contos apresentados mostram a humanidade tendo que lidar com questões científicas ao se depararem com problemas de seu meio. Não procure aventura, romance, ação aqui... todas essas coisas são apenas pitadas para o principal: a introdução de perguntas feitas ao final de cada conto que exigem uma investigação do tema tratado, seja ele bioquímica, astronomia, linguística, etc...
Nesse sentido, ele lembra um pouco os livros da série Vaga-Lume, mas enquanto essa focava mais na compreensão do texto, Para Onde Vamos? se volta para a curiosidade e o fazer científico.
Isaac Asimov, o organizador da coletânea, é ainda hoje considerado como um dos maiores autores de ficção científica, lado a lado com Julio Verne, Arthur C. Clarke e Carl Sagan. A diferença é que ele sempre tentou fazer o gênero mais acessível e, nesse caso, mais didático.
Todos os contos apresentados mostram a humanidade tendo que lidar com questões científicas ao se depararem com problemas de seu meio. Não procure aventura, romance, ação aqui... todas essas coisas são apenas pitadas para o principal: a introdução de perguntas feitas ao final de cada conto que exigem uma investigação do tema tratado, seja ele bioquímica, astronomia, linguística, etc...
Nesse sentido, ele lembra um pouco os livros da série Vaga-Lume, mas enquanto essa focava mais na compreensão do texto, Para Onde Vamos? se volta para a curiosidade e o fazer científico.
March 30, 2022
A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum 3/5
Night by Don A. Stuart 4/5
The Day Is Done by Lester Del Ray 5/5
Heavy Planet by Milton Rothman 2.5/5
...and He Built a Crooked House... By Robert Heinlein 5/5
Proof by Hal Clement 2.5/5
A Subway Named Mobius by A. J. Deutsch by 3.5
Surface Tension by James Blish 5/5
Country Doctor by William Morrison 2/5
The Holes Around Mars by Jerome Bixby 2.5/5
The Deep Range by Arthur C. Clarke 3/5
The Cave of Night by James E. Gunn 5/5
Dust Rag by Hal Clement 3/5
Pâté De Foie Gras by Isaac Asimov 4/5
Omnilingual by H. Beam Piper 3/5
The Big Bounce by Walter S. Tevis 3.5/5
Neutron Star by Larry Niven 5/5
Night by Don A. Stuart 4/5
The Day Is Done by Lester Del Ray 5/5
Heavy Planet by Milton Rothman 2.5/5
...and He Built a Crooked House... By Robert Heinlein 5/5
Proof by Hal Clement 2.5/5
A Subway Named Mobius by A. J. Deutsch by 3.5
Surface Tension by James Blish 5/5
Country Doctor by William Morrison 2/5
The Holes Around Mars by Jerome Bixby 2.5/5
The Deep Range by Arthur C. Clarke 3/5
The Cave of Night by James E. Gunn 5/5
Dust Rag by Hal Clement 3/5
Pâté De Foie Gras by Isaac Asimov 4/5
Omnilingual by H. Beam Piper 3/5
The Big Bounce by Walter S. Tevis 3.5/5
Neutron Star by Larry Niven 5/5
January 1, 2021
Where do we go from here is a collection of interesting sci-fi short stories by various authors. Each story is commented on by Isaac Asimov, who provides explanations and questions, trying to get the reader to think about the subject which the specific story focuses on. For me reading through these after every story was quite enjoyable, and achieved its goal perfectly. I found the short stories themselves to be very enjoyable, although some of them are a bit dated. My personal favourites were 'Omnilingual' and 'The Neutron Star'.
July 11, 2018
A Martian Odyssey 3,5/5 Night 3/5 The day is done 3/5 Heavy planet 3,5/5 And he built a crooked house 3,5/5 Proof 4,5/5 A subway named Mobius 4/5 Surface tension 4,5/5 Country doctor 2,5/5 The holes around Mars 3,5/5 The deep range 4/5 The cave of night 3,5/5 Dust rag 5/5 Paté de Foie gras 4,5/5 ( for fun ) Omnilingual 3,5/5 The big bounce 3/5 Neutron star 5/5
old-fashioned technique (Mars at first), but mostly fine narrating in terms of age of origin, close to 4 stars
old-fashioned technique (Mars at first), but mostly fine narrating in terms of age of origin, close to 4 stars
October 23, 2019
This is a collection of classic (old) SF. Asimov likes gimmicky SF - it has to have some "hard' science for him to like it, so that kind of limits things a bit. Of course, I had read some of these in other anthologies. He Built a Crooked House, by Heinlein is one I had read, but it is so funny - definitely one of the better SF short stories out there.
An example of a gimmick is Niven's Neutron Star. The gimmick is the huge tidal forces if you flew near one.
An example of a gimmick is Niven's Neutron Star. The gimmick is the huge tidal forces if you flew near one.
February 2, 2018
Even though these stories are a bit out of date, many of them having been written in the fifties, they still show the Science Fiction writer imagination and are fun to read. I'm sure I have read some before, but since my memory doesn't hold a lot, the stories were mostly new to me. I liked the Mobius story and the Big Bounce, as well as the Martian idea tales.
January 17, 2019
Great collection of stories featuring sci-fi realism.
Heavy Planet explored some really interesting concepts.
'Concepts' is key here. Many of these stories don't fulfill a reader's general expectations of a story format, they exist mostly to intrigue you with playful sci-fi notions.
Heavy Planet explored some really interesting concepts.
'Concepts' is key here. Many of these stories don't fulfill a reader's general expectations of a story format, they exist mostly to intrigue you with playful sci-fi notions.
December 15, 2022
Still one of the most thought-provoking collections of sci-fi shorts ever written. It's been long enough since I reread it that I had forgotten some of a few of the stories, though others I practically have memorized still.
February 9, 2024
Super zbierka sci-fi poviedok od rôznych autorov. Niektoré koncepty boli dobre premyslené, iné ma až tak nechytili, ale vzhľadom na to, že vždy to boli len poviedky, oplatilo sa prečítať back to back a inšpirovať sa len tým, čo zarezonovalo.
March 25, 2019
While the book was pretty standard as far as short story collections are concerned, I really liked the additional follow ups on the science itself added by Asimov. Great read overall.
August 18, 2024
Downhill my Isaac, mostly downhill!
November 25, 2012
This collection of science fiction stories written between 1934 and 1966 was published with the intention to "inspire curiosity" and "lead the student into lines of questioning of his own". To that end, Dr. Asimov followed each tale with a brief commentary and some questions related to the ideas used on the story. I originally bought this book for a high school course in science fiction. In that class, we never did use the questions, focusing instead on the literary aspects of the stories. Nor did I ever pursue Dr. Asimov's questions on my own. But, by golly, I certainly did enjoy the stories themselves, hanging onto the book for all these years. It's classic science fiction from the mid-20th Century. Man is often the master of his domain, either by conquering his environment or by inventing wonders that astound. Of course, that observation is what I picked up in my 2012 reading of the tales. What originally endeared me to the book is the variety of concepts and the well written stories that explored those ideas. Hopefully, Dr. Asimov wouldn't have been a too disappointed in my response, missing his goal as it does.
July 7, 2012
Some tasty science fiction short stories. Though they are dated, the selection is fun to read because they deal with the philosophy of other races and of space exploration rather than how attractive aliens are to humans and whether they wear silver space suits. In that sense they have stayed remarkably current; I think the biggest difference is the language itself.
June 15, 2013
Příjemný výběr sci-fi povídek vybraných legendou žánru Isaacem Asimovem, který každou povídku doplnil komentářem a několika podnětnými otázkami pro zvídavce. Ačkoli poprvé vyšla již v roce 1974, většina z povídek je i pro dnešního čtenáře napsána čtivě a zábavně a žádnéfo fanouška sci-fi neurazí. Nejvíc mě zaujaly povídky Domeček jako klícka a Podzemní dráha Möbius.
January 23, 2013
This is the first book of science fiction short stories I've read where each story was suffixed by a short discussion of the scientific principles and a set of questions for further study for the interested. It's a great idea. I wish more collections would do this.
August 10, 2017
As seems standard for me with any book of short stories, I loved some of the stories, liked some of the stories, and was indifferent toward one or two of them. The 4-star rating is for the collection as a whole. It's certainly a must-read for any fan of classic science fiction.
January 5, 2009
A better-than-average anthology of classic science fiction short stories by established authors.
April 24, 2009
Wow! This was the first book I ever bought when I was about 12 years old. I still have a copy of it. Stories by classic science fiction authors. What better way to jump start a young mind?
Want to read
September 26, 2015I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13368064
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13368064
April 22, 2020
Hard core, old school SCIENCE fiction. Silicon based life, house that collapsed into tesseract, goose that metabolizes gold and much more. What's not to love about this?
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