I. Asimov index continued

22. Early Sales
"Cosmic Corkscrew" - Asimov's first story written for publication. lost. pg 69
Astounding magazine, edited by Campbell pg 69
Street & Smith pg 68, 69
Campbell, John W. jr. pg 70-71
"The Callistan Menace"(Asimov story) pg 70
"Marooned off Vesta" Asimov story pg 70
Amazing Stories, published by Ziff-DAvis pg 70
Palmer, Raymond A. (editor of Amazing Stories) pg 70
Pohl, Fred (purchased Callistan Menace) pg 70
"Trends" (first Asimov story sold to CAmpbell) pg 71
"The Weapon Too Dreadful to Use" Asimov story pg 71
Columbia College pg 71


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Asimov in the News: WVU is new home to more than 600 Asimov books, items

The Daily Athenaeum: WVU is new home to more than 600 Asimov books, items
More than 600 books by renowned science fiction writer Isaac Asimov were donated to the West Virginia University Wise Library's Rare Book Collection.

WVU alumnus Larry Shaver contacted WVU in 2003 to ask if they were interested in the books he had collected by Asimov. Over the years Shaver has donated more than 600 books and more than 50 other items such as games, audio recordings, videos and wall charts, said Harold Forbes, WVU's rare books curator.

Shaver said he began collecting the books when he was in high school with his first purchase of "The Fountain Trilogy."

"I was intrigued by the covers mostly I must admit, but once I had read them, I was hooked," Shaver said.

Shaver later purchased several of Asimov's works from dealers in Australia.

After 25 years of collecting Asimov works, he ended up with more than 175 books. He then decided to upgrade his collection and started seriously collecting by seeking better editions and signed copies.

One particular book Shaver purchased was a signed first-edition of "I, Robot," which cost him $1,000 and a signed "Lucky Starr" series for around $4,000.

Shaver has found many rare and signed editions of books written by Asimov. However, there are about 20 titles in the recognized list of Asimov's works that he has not found.

"I keep looking, though," he said. "This past fall for example, I was able to obtain 54 essays that had only appeared in American Airlines in-flight magazine around 30 years ago."

Once his obsession became too large for him to take care of, Shaver decided to donate his Asimov collection to WVU, which took the entire collection unseen. Then, the

collection included more than 600 books.

When WVU asked Shaver what restrictions he had for the collection, he replied only the collection be kept together.

"I could not have been more pleased with the extraordinary work the library staff had done to not only make the collection available, but also in the restoration efforts they've made to the books themselves," he said. "That collection truly belongs to WVU Libraries, not me."

The Asimov collection, which now includes 38 signed editions, belongs to WVU and is under the care of Forbes, who has worked in the rare books room for 38 years.

When a student wants to view an Asimov book, or other rare book, they must make an appointment with Forbes. He ensures they receive a lesson on how to handle the collection.

The rare books room has rules such as no pens, cameras or scanning equipment to ensure the preservation of the books, he said.

"It's expanded the period of time that is covered in the rare books room," Forbes said. "Asimov added the 20th century ... we deliberately expanded into science and science fiction."




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I Asimov Index continued

19. Frederik Pohl
Pohl, Frederik pgs 62-64
Pohl, Bette (Frederik's fidth wife) pg 63
Kornbluth, Cyril pg 63
Galaxy magazine pg 63
GRavy Planet, the pg 63 (written by Kornbluth and Pohl)
Space Merchants, The (novel form of GRavy Planet) pg 63
Astonishing Stories (edited by Pohl in 1940) pg 64
Super Science Stories (edited by Pohl in 1940) pg 64
Astounding Magazine pg 64
Pohl, Doris (Pohl's first wife) pg 64
Campbell, John W. Jr (namecheck) pg 64

20. Cyril Kornbluth
Kornbluth, Cyril pgs 65-66
"A Maiden Fair to See" from HMS Pinafore pg 65
HMS Pinafore pg 65
Smith, George O (science fiction writer) pg 66
"The Marching Morons" by Cyril Kornbluth pg 66
Galaxy magazine pg 66

21. Donald Allen Wollhein
Wollheim, Donald Allen pg 67-66
Ackerman, Forrest J. (namecheck) pg 67
Kornbluth, Cyril (namecheck) pg 67
Stirring Science Fiction (edited by Wollheim) pg 67
Cosmic Stories (edited by Wollheim) pg 67
"The Secret Sense" by Asimov, pg 67
Tremaine, F. Orlin pg 67
Comet Stories, edited by F. Orlin Tremaine pg 67
"The Man from Ariel" by Wollheim, pg 68
Wonder Stories (name check) pg 68
"Mimic" by Wollheim pg 68
Fantastic Novels (namecheck) pg 68
Pocket Book of Science Fiction, edited by Wolheim, pog 68
Ace Books pg 68
DAW Books, founded by Wollheim pg 68
Universe Makers, The - non-fiction, history of SF by Wollheim, pg 68
Wollheim, Elsie (Donald's first and only wife) pg 68
Wollheim, Betsy (Donald's daughter) pg 68
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Asimov in the News: Isaac Asimov, Time Travel and 'The End of Eternity'

NPR: Isaac Asimov, Time Travel and 'The End of Eternity'

Science-fiction godfather Isaac Asimov published his classic time-travel novel The End of Eternity in 1955, and in a way, it's become lost in time itself over the years. Overshadowed by Asimov's famous Foundation and Robot series, The End of Eternity is mostly unknown to casual science-fiction fans. Yet serious devotees of Asimov's work consider it to be his single greatest novel.

The End of Eternity has been out of print and hard to find for a while, but that's been happily remedied with Tor Books' recent hardcover reissue and even more recent move to the various e-book formats.

The complicated plot of the book goes something like this: Our hero, Andrew Harlan, is an Eternal — a scientist operating from a tract of cosmic real estate known as Eternity. Eternity is a sort of bubble that exists outside of time and space. Or, in the metaphorical approach of the book, it's like an extratemporal elevator shaft running parallel to forward-moving Time.

Eternals can move up and down this shaft — "upwhen" and "downwhen" — getting off at stations in any century to enact Reality Changes. These changes alter the flow of human events toward outcomes producing "the maximum good for the maximum number."

As a going concern, though, Eternity has an HR problem. Despite their names, Eternals are mere humans, subject to aging in "physiotime." They age and die just like anyone else. They make mistakes. And fall in love.

Disclosing too much after this would spoil things, as much of the pleasure of Eternity comes from its old-fashioned mystery plotting. This might not be what you'd expect from Asimov, but the author actually wrote several mysteries and was a member of the prestigious Sherlock Holmes appreciation society, "The Baker Street Irregulars."

What would actually happen, the book asks, if an eternal guardian entity were forever shielding us from our own mistakes?

Still, it's safe to disclose a few story specifics. In the course of his work, Harlan falls in love with the fetching Noÿs Lambent, a beautiful aristocrat with her umlauts in all right places (writing about women was never Asimov's strong suit). Noÿs is from a century scheduled to undergo a Reality Change, which presents a dilemma for Harlan. If he effects the change, Noÿs may disappear entirely from the new Reality, or be replaced with an inferior analogue.

Eternity trades heavily in the proposal and resolution of quite a few time-travel paradoxes. This is a staple of science fiction, but here Asimov handles it with remarkable clarity. The book casually shuffles in mind-bending concepts from quantum physics and actually makes them work within the narrative, weaving in concepts like causality violations and infinite parallel universes.

Asimov never actually renders these things understandable — that would take several decades and a few doctoral programs. But he makes them appear understandable, at least until the end of the chapter. And that's the real trick, isn't it? The book employs time-travel elements to do what all good science fiction does — extrapolate scientific and social issues to various event horizons of the future.

Eternity's essential mission statement, after all, would have to be read as social engineering writ insanely large. What would actually happen, the book asks, if an eternal guardian entity were forever shielding us from our own mistakes?

It doesn't take too much lateral thinking to transpose Asimov's hard sci-fi musings into theological notions of destiny and free will. Or, going in the other direction, to matters of evolution and natural selection. If you remove adverse environmental conditions, would man keep evolving at all?

This is part of Asimov's particular genius. He is a master prestidigitator of notional misdirection. He keeps you so dazzled with the sci-fi flourishes — Temporal loops! Neuronic whips! — that you don't notice the bigger cosmic tricks he's producing from his other sleeve. It's a maneuver he uses time and time again in the Foundation and Robot books.

Eternity also works as a futuristic thriller and is particularly effective as a straight-up mystery novel. The last 30 pages of the book move with terrific velocity through a series of startling revelations. Asimov snaps together a dozen story elements cleverly obscured throughout the other chapters. Clearly, this is where Asimov's Sherlock habit pays off.

Glenn McDonald is an arts writer and movie critic with the Raleigh News & Observer and editor of NPR's Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me Daily News Quiz.

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Asimov in the News: Local students don’t want their future trashed

AuburnPub.com: Local students don’t want their future trashed

After reading Isaac Asimov’s “Where Does the Garbage Go?” fifth-grade students in one of Hermine Drossos’ reading groups at A.J. Smith Elementary School in Union Springs wrote to The Citizen with their worries for the future. In observation of Earth Day, The Citizen has published their letters below.

The essays have been reprinted as submitted.

Dear editor,

I am a fifth grade student at AJ Smith Elementary. I am concerned that soon we might be the last ones alive if people don’t stop littering. Also, all the animals will die. It is bad for the Earth. It is just sickening that people leave their garbage near rivers, lakes and oceans. If they go swimming there, they will smell a lot of garbage and no one would want to go there anymore. Think about the animals that live there, they could get hurt real badly. What if you were those animals and tried to survive with all that revolting garbage?

Some people don’t care about the Earth. Did you know that each person in the U.S. produces more then a half a ton of garbage each year. People should think before they throw stuff outside. We should throw away less because the more garbage we throw away, the more we pollute. We need to recycle more and stop burning stuff like plastic that will pollute the air, because it’s bad for our health. Some people dump trash next to the ocean. What about all those cool fish in the ocean? Here’s an idea, grownups and their kids could get together and figure out a way to help people and animals to be healthy.

Sincerely,

Tyler K.

Dear editor,

Hello, my name is Jonathan Bower, and I’m a 5th grade student at AJ Smith Elementary in Auburn. I’m worried about the growing problem of garbage in our landfills. It takes 450 years for a plastic can 6-pack cover to decompose, probably not even 1 of them has! It is undetermined how long it takes for a glass bottle to decompose!

I believe that recycling as much as we can will solve the problem. We can fix old blankets and give them to the Salvation Army. Also think about not buying wrapping paper, you can recycle newspapers. We should think about using biomass, biomass waste, and water for energy not coal, nuclear, natural gas and oil. We only have 40-70 year left of focal fuel and it pollutes. It also causes global warming, so change to the good choice. We should also stop burning garbage, it releases bad chemicals in to the air. 1 last thing toxic waste is a bad idea. How about wind energy and solar? There are many ways to help the environment.

Sincerely,

Jonathan bower

Dear editor,

I am a fifth grad student at AJ Smith Elementary and I am concerned about Garbage. I would like to know what we can do about all of this trash in the world. I am concerned because the air and the water is being piloted rate now as we sit here and speak. You and I both know that everyone like to go to the zoo. But if the air is piloted no one can go there and see all of there animals. Also if the water is piloted you can’t go to the beach and to tell you the truth I like the beach and the zoo a lot and I know my kids will too. So I would rely rely like it if everyone would stop and think, “Is this going to help or is this going heart the world?” and then find out what you think you could do with the trash. If you know something about it and then I think you are a real hero That’s why we should participate in Earth Day,

Here are just some suggestions that I think will help the world be a bettor place for everyone to live in. I think everyone should have at least one bin for their recycling in their house. So then when someone is about to go throw something away he or she will start putting it in the correct bin. I’m not sure if this is a good idea or not, but I was thinking maybe we could even make some solar panels for factories or other big baseness, because I know that sun will never give off any pollution at all. But I doknow the things we are using now will really hurt the planet a lot. Please think about everything I has said.

Sincerely,

Anthony J. Whiffen

Dear editor,

I am an A.J. student and I am concerned that we don’t recycle things that can be recycled. For example glass can be recycled. I am also concerned about all of the litter. We are polluting the world and I don’t like it. Litter can get caught in the ditch and lead into our nearest river or lake. It can also lead into our oceans. We need water for cooking and drinking so if we had an oil spill we wouldn’t be able to drink or cook with it. Some animals can mistake litter for food like a meat package and they can die. If your cat or dog died because of you littering, wouldn’t you be sad. It is the same of other animals I am helping people clean the world by going out and picking up garbage from ditches and roads so I can change the world. It is sad that people are doing this to our community.

Litter and carry lots of germs and you can get dieses from it. Every day should be earth day. One time my sister and I went out to find and pick up garbage and fond at lot of it. It was gross. If I had 1,0000 dollars I would spend it on stuff to help the enlivenment. I read in books that some of the garbage can land in the beach. Sometimes beaches get so dirty that they have to close the beach so it can be cleaned. It sickens me that how much people litter.

There should be a law about littering and if you litter you will go to you will bet a fine. Another thing is cigarette buds are often thrown out of cars that I call cruelty and you should go to jail. If that happened their wood be a lot of people in your local jail. If a baby picks up a cigarette bud and eats it they can die.

I don’t know if people know this but cans can be worth money like 5 or 10 cents all you have to do is bring your can to a place that collets cans like the one in auburn N.Y. and if you throw all of you cans away you are throwing away your money. If I was an adult I would not want to throw away my money. Well, I am Kayla Nichols and I want to make a difference. Remember when you throw away a can you are throwing away an animals or babies life.

Sincerely,

Kayla Nichols

Dear editor,

I am a 5th grade student at A.J. Smith Elementary. I am very concerned about garbage. The amount of garbage looks like it is growing and that worries me a lot. Pretty soon there will be no animals left and people will be getting sick. Before you know it our landfills will take up all of our room for living. Some landfills can be a big problem. I’ll tell you why. Some chemicals can leak out of the landfill into houses and factories I see more people littering. You know what that means, people are not caring anymore. That is sad.

I have some suggestion to keep garbage where I live away so my family will be safe. On Earth Day, all my cousins, aunts, uncle, and even my grandma and grandpa go out to pick up garbage. You would not believe what we picked up. There were 3 whole bags. That is sad. That shows more people do not care about animals and people around where they live. My grandma gave me this thought; you may not know that behind the pretty hills can be a mess with all the trash. It used to be pretty, but some people ruined for our animals and environment. Do you want to help the government? Around your town, city, where ever you live, if you see garbage laying around, pick it up. You can set up a recycling bin near the ocean with fish in the water and before you know it, it is filled with cans and tabs. Bring the tabs to school and the cans to a place where they recycle. You or your parents talk about the recycling bin idea and try it. You never know if it would work.

Sincerely,

Hannah Patterson



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I. Asimov Index continued

18. The Futurians

Astounding Stories (namecheck) pg 59
Clayton Publications (namecheck) pg 59
Street & Smith Publications (name check) pg 59
Tremaine, F. Orlin, editor of Astounding pg 59
Analog Science-Fact Science Fiction (namecheck) pg 59
Science Fiction League of America (founded in 1934) pg 60
Boys High pg 60
Queens Science Fiction Club pg 60
The Futurians (their formation) pg 61


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I Asimov Index Continued

16. Humiliation
Thomas Jefferson High School (Asimov did not attend) pg 49
Boys High School pg 49
Newfield, Max (one of Asimov's English teachers) pg 51
"Little Brothers" (Asimov's first published writing, age 14, Boys High School literary magazine) pg 51
"Time TRaveler" inspuired by Newfield story, pg 52
Duckett, Alfred A. (African American writer, Asimov's contemporary at Boy's High School) pg 52

17. Failure
Columbia College, part of Columbia University, pg 53, 54
Seth Low Junior College, pg 54
City College pg 54
Morningside Heights Campus, Columbia College pg 55
Columbia University, pg 55
Asimon, Juda, angina pectoris, pg 57, 58
Asimov, Stanley pg 57



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