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Today and Tomorrow And...
Here are thirty-two science essays written for a variety of publications over a six year period and all updated. Interesting to look back, thirty-five years on, to the major challenges envisaged on how to deal with developments in outer space as well as on earth.
319 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
5 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,347 books28k 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 9, 2022
Essays from yesterday about the then today and tomorrow. Not an F&SF collection. [2003]
In general the non F&SF essays are weaker, if only for the fact that they do not start with a personal anecdote. But this one is absolutely wonderful.
It starts off with a nice tale about the Platypus. Followed by an essay about the total eclipse which in one form or another I must have read dozens of times. So I will finally try to remember that the famous battle that was ended by divine intervention occurred on the 28th of May 585 B.C.
Flying Mountains about Toro is pretty lame as are the following two essays.
The core and highlight of the book are the four essays on the traditional elements written for the Smithonian. Asimov manages to basically give us a short history of Chemistry telling us about each of the elements. Just wonderful. Unfortunately the last essay on ether that he had planned to write the bad Smithonians did not want. What a pity.
And in the Physics part of the book the same thing happened. Here he was asked to write about the Big concepts and he delivered articles on space, time and mass. They were to be followed by ones about energy, life and intelligence. And even greater pity. (At least the editor has the excuse that the publication ceased publication.) Asimov on intelligence! I would gladly give any robot story (and all of his anthologies) for an essay on that. (I will probably not get old enough to live to the time when AI will be able to write an article on intelligence in the Asimov style. But maybe I am too pessimistic.)
How many Inches in a Mile? is about one of his pet subjects. And it immediately brings tears to my eyes that our American friends still stick to the lunacy.
In general the non F&SF essays are weaker, if only for the fact that they do not start with a personal anecdote. But this one is absolutely wonderful.
It starts off with a nice tale about the Platypus. Followed by an essay about the total eclipse which in one form or another I must have read dozens of times. So I will finally try to remember that the famous battle that was ended by divine intervention occurred on the 28th of May 585 B.C.
Flying Mountains about Toro is pretty lame as are the following two essays.
The core and highlight of the book are the four essays on the traditional elements written for the Smithonian. Asimov manages to basically give us a short history of Chemistry telling us about each of the elements. Just wonderful. Unfortunately the last essay on ether that he had planned to write the bad Smithonians did not want. What a pity.
And in the Physics part of the book the same thing happened. Here he was asked to write about the Big concepts and he delivered articles on space, time and mass. They were to be followed by ones about energy, life and intelligence. And even greater pity. (At least the editor has the excuse that the publication ceased publication.) Asimov on intelligence! I would gladly give any robot story (and all of his anthologies) for an essay on that. (I will probably not get old enough to live to the time when AI will be able to write an article on intelligence in the Asimov style. But maybe I am too pessimistic.)
How many Inches in a Mile? is about one of his pet subjects. And it immediately brings tears to my eyes that our American friends still stick to the lunacy.
August 18, 2015
Αυτό το βιβλίο με παίδεψε λίγο να το ολοκληρώσω, όμως άξιζε τον κόπο. Το δεύτερο μέρος το διάβασα με πολύ μεγαλύτερο ενδιαφέρον και κυρίως τα άρθρα που είχαν να κάνουν με τις γυναίκες αστροναύτες, τη διασκέδαση στο μέλλον, και τη σοβαρότητα που περικλείει η επιστημονική φαντασία ως λογοτεχνικό είδος. Τον Isaac Asimov τον γνώρισα και τον αγάπησα μέσα από τα βιβλία επιστημονικής φαντασίας που έγραψε, αλλά πλέον τον έχω μέσα στην καρδιά μου γιατί είναι από τους λίγους επιστήμονες (απ' όσους έχω διαβάσει ως τώρα) που μίλησε υπέρ των γυναικών όσον αφορά τη θέση τους στην κοινωνία, αλλά και το μορφωτικό τους επίπεδο, καθώς και για την ανάγκη να αντιμετωπίζονται ισότιμα στον χώρο των επιστημών.
September 13, 2015
Μια συλλογή από πολύ ενδιαφέροντα άρθρα που έγραψε ο Ασήμοφ πάνω σε διάφορα επιστημονικά (και όχι μόνο) θέματα. Κάποια από αυτά "προβλέπουν" διάφορες τεχνολογικές εξελίξεις με αρκετή ακρίβεια, όπως π.χ. το διαδύκτιο και το κινητό τηλέφωνο.
July 22, 2017
This is a group of essays Asimov put together in one place (my copy was published in 1973). The articles cover a wide span of scientific interests, but it's telling how many times Asimov brought up certain issues. One of his biggest concerns appeared to be the over-population of the Earth and of the U.S. to the point that he confidently states that by 1990 birth control will no longer have any moral issue attached to it and no government officials will take issue with it. Also included are several interesting articles about his disdain for the lack of gender diversity in the sciences at the time, including Asimov being upset that at the time the Russians had already sent a woman into space, while the U.S. still hadn't accepted any women into training to become astronauts. Not surprisingly, some of the most fun articles include Asimov's vision for the then future.
January 3, 2018
Yes most of the essays are dated, BUT one can recognize and appreciate the forward thinking of Dr. Asimov. I recommend reading “What Do You Call a Platypus” and “How Many Inches in a Mile.” They’re both good fun.
April 5, 2025
A collection of essays on various aspects of the hard sciences, some more interesting than others.
February 8, 2026
An interesting collection of journal articles written by Isaac Asimov. Some of it is dated as it was written in the early 1970s. interesting perspectives from one of the great SF writers.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews