“What we need is a simple test, something as simple as the sword of Achilles,” Asimov wrote. “We want a measure that will serve, quickly and without ambiguity, to select the potentially creative from the general rank and file.” He then outlined what he saw as a useful method for finding the innovators of tomorrow. It was elegant and straightforward, and in the events of his own remarkable life, Asimov had witnessed its power firsthand: “I would like to suggest such a sword of Achilles. It is simply this: an interest in good science fiction.”
