From Yours, Isaac Asimov
pg 9
"I honestly don't know how to write or how to advise anyone else to write. I can do it, but that doesn't say I know how to do it. I also synthesize DNA in every cell of my body, but I don't know the exact details of how I do that, either."
Asimov actually learned how to write first by reading voraciously as a young child, and having a desire to tell stories himself.
When he first started trying to break into John W. Campbell's magazine, Campbell would give him detailed advice, and in his autobiography Asimov says that he learned a lot from that.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Why did Asimov write?
From Yours, Isaac Asimov:
"I write in order to teach and in order to make people feel good (for I am wedded to the theory that learning is the most enduring pleasure.) It is nice to make money doing so. However, my chief reason for writing is to please myself, because I myself learn by writing. And that it my pleasure, too."
"I write in order to teach and in order to make people feel good (for I am wedded to the theory that learning is the most enduring pleasure.) It is nice to make money doing so. However, my chief reason for writing is to please myself, because I myself learn by writing. And that it my pleasure, too."
Sprague de Camp and Cliff Simak
On 16 September, 1955, Asimov wrote a letter or postcard to someone. (The one flaw in Yours, Isaac Asimov is that we usually are not told to whom Asimov was writing.)
From this letter, we may take it that by 1955 de Camp and Simak were good friends who exchanged letters...but of course that Asimov was more prompyt than they.
From pg 4
"Writing at once and answering at once is one of my many compulsions. I do not expect it of others. The pattern of my regular correspondences (as with Sprague de Camp, Cliff Simak and so on)is a letter from them, an answer from me by return mail, an answer from them any time from a month to a year later, an answer from me by return mail and so on. I virtually never write out of turn, so I end up never bothering anyone."
___________________
Bibliography
Yours, Isaac Asimov: A Lifetime of Letters, edited by Stanley Asimov. Doubleday, 1995
From this letter, we may take it that by 1955 de Camp and Simak were good friends who exchanged letters...but of course that Asimov was more prompyt than they.
From pg 4
"Writing at once and answering at once is one of my many compulsions. I do not expect it of others. The pattern of my regular correspondences (as with Sprague de Camp, Cliff Simak and so on)is a letter from them, an answer from me by return mail, an answer from them any time from a month to a year later, an answer from me by return mail and so on. I virtually never write out of turn, so I end up never bothering anyone."
___________________
Bibliography
Yours, Isaac Asimov: A Lifetime of Letters, edited by Stanley Asimov. Doubleday, 1995
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Crazy Ideas #1: His Accountant
All writers - of fiction anyway - are asked where they get their ideas.
Asimov got many of those from his Black Widower mystery stories from real life.
For example, in "The Family Man," a Black Widowers story which appeared in a 1976 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, the Black Widower's guest is an IRS investigator. His presence prompts Thomas Trumbull to say, "Good God. And you offer that as justification for your existence? Horse-whipping with barbed wire is what it justifies."
Later on in the story, Trumbull says, ""What the hell has 'unwilling' got to do with it? You enforce your own interpretation of the rules, act as prosecuting attorney and judge, hound us relentlessly, treat us as guilty till we prove ourselves innocent, and are perfectly ready to jail us if you can. What do you care if we're unwilling?"
and you know Asimov was thinking about the IRS when he had Geoffrey Avalon say this:
"I don't conscientiously pad, but I must admit that the IRS and I might not agree on just what constitutes a deductible expense in the first place."
And he has his IRS character say, "Then you deduct it till we tell you otherwise. That's the tax man's version of keeping you innocent until proven guilty."
Asimov never got in trouble with the IRS, but he was questioned about a deduction he took when he donated his papers to Boston University in 1968. (8 years before the events of "The Family Man."
Asimov got many of those from his Black Widower mystery stories from real life.
For example, in "The Family Man," a Black Widowers story which appeared in a 1976 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, the Black Widower's guest is an IRS investigator. His presence prompts Thomas Trumbull to say, "Good God. And you offer that as justification for your existence? Horse-whipping with barbed wire is what it justifies."
Later on in the story, Trumbull says, ""What the hell has 'unwilling' got to do with it? You enforce your own interpretation of the rules, act as prosecuting attorney and judge, hound us relentlessly, treat us as guilty till we prove ourselves innocent, and are perfectly ready to jail us if you can. What do you care if we're unwilling?"
and you know Asimov was thinking about the IRS when he had Geoffrey Avalon say this:
"I don't conscientiously pad, but I must admit that the IRS and I might not agree on just what constitutes a deductible expense in the first place."
And he has his IRS character say, "Then you deduct it till we tell you otherwise. That's the tax man's version of keeping you innocent until proven guilty."
Asimov never got in trouble with the IRS, but he was questioned about a deduction he took when he donated his papers to Boston University in 1968. (8 years before the events of "The Family Man."
From Yours, Isaac Asimov (a collection of Asimov's letters and postcards to people):
In late 1968, Isaac got a notice from the IRS that it had questions about his 1966 tax return.
1 November 1968
My accountant kept calming me and calming me and telling me he knew I was honest and the tax people knew I was honest and he would tell them flatly that it was a waste of time to question a man of my integrity, etc., etc. Then he looked through my tax return and said, "Aha-a-a-a." And I said, "What, what, what, what, what?" Then, to make it perfectly clear, , I said "What?" (That's a Wodehousian touch.
In 1966, I was giving my manuscripts and papers to BU, and for the first time, I received a note from them which included a notarized statement from some expert in such matters which gave an evaluation of the worth of my contribution. He placed it at $3,500. BU informed me I could deduct this from my income for tax purposes and so I did.
My accountant said, "Any sunstantial contribution in something other than money sets off an alarm in the computer and everyone comes running."
I said, "But I had nothing to do with it. I didn't ask for it. BU sent it of their own accord, and this guy is a recognized expert employed by them and this is a notarized letter."
And he said, "It doesn't matter. They want to argue it. They're going to question whether the material is worth that much."
I said, "For my part, it isn't worth anything. I used to burn it all before I started giving it to BU. But the university says its worth a great deal to them and to future generations of scholars."
He said, "I'll argue it with them and we'll see what happens."
Anyway, I'm not mad anymore because I think this is a legitimate investigation. In my case, I think the deduction is reasonable enough, but I can see where this sort of thing could lend itself to great abuse and the government should investigate it. And I'd rather be investigated myself in a careful guard against abuse than to escape it out of the general corruption and inefficiency of the government. Because, to be selfish about it, a rotten government would be far more expensive to me in the long run than the enforced (even unjustly enforced) payment of a few hundred dollars.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Brave New Words
From I09: 10 Brave New Words
10 Words You Might Think Came from Science (But Are Really From Science Fiction )
Last week it came to our attention that the phrase "blast off" was coined—not in a purely scientific context, but a science fictional one—by E. E. Smith, an early science fiction author often referred to as "the father of space opera." The term appeared in Smith's 1937 story Galactic Patrol, when one character inquires of another, "How long do you figure it'll be before it's safe for us to blast off?"
And it turns out blast off isn't the only scientific word or phrase with science fictional origins; here is a list of nine more, originally composed by Jeff Prucher—editor for the Oxford English Dictionary's Science Fiction Project and author of the Hugo Award—winning Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction—for the Oxford University Press Blog.
9. Robotics
This is probably the most well-known of these, since Isaac Asimov is famous for (among many other things) his three laws of robotics. Even so, I include it because it is one of the only actual sciences to have been first named in a science fiction story ("Liar!", 1941). Asimov also named the related occupation (roboticist) and the adjective robotic.
8. Genetic engineering
The other science that received its name from a science fiction story, in this case Jack Williamson's novel Dragon's Island, which was coincidentally published in the same year as "Liar!" The occupation of genetic engineer took a few more years to be named, this time by Poul Anderson.
7. Zero-gravity/zero-g
A defining feature of life in outer space (sans artificial gravity, of course). The first known use of "zero-gravity" is from Jack Binder (better known for his work as an artist) in 1938, and actually refers to the gravityless state of the center of the Earth's core. Arthur C. Clarke gave us "zero-g" in his 1952 novel Islands in the Sky.
6. Deep space
One of the other defining features of outer space is its essential emptiness. In science fiction, this phrase most commonly refers to a region of empty space between stars or that is remote from the home world. E. E. "Doc" Smith seems to have coined this phrase in 1934. The more common use in the sciences refers to the region of space outside of the Earth's atmosphere.
5. Ion drive
An ion drive is a type of spaceship engine that creates propulsion by emitting charged particles in the direction opposite of the one you want to travel. The earliest citation in Brave New Words is again from Jack Williamson ("The Equalizer", 1947). A number of spacecraft have used this technology, beginning in the 1970s.
4. Pressure suit
A suit that maintains a stable pressure around its occupant; useful in both space exploration and high-altitude flights. This is another one from the fertile mind of E. E. Smith. Curiously, his pressure suits were furred, an innovation not, alas, replicated by NASA.
3. Virus
Computer virus, that is. Dave Gerrold (of "The Trouble With Tribbles" fame) was apparently the first to make the verbal analogy between biological viruses and self-replicating computer programs, in his 1972 story "When Harlie Was One."
2. Worm
Another type of self-replicating computer program. So named by John Brunner in his 1975 novel Shockwave Rider.
1. Gas giant
A large planet, like Jupiter or Neptune, that is composed largely of gaseous material. The first known use of this term is from a story ("Solar Plexus") by James Blish; the odd thing about it is that it was first used in a reprint of the story, eleven years after the story was first published. Whether this is because Blish conceived of the term in the intervening years or read it somewhere else, or whether it was in the original manuscript and got edited out is impossible to say at this point.
10 Words You Might Think Came from Science (But Are Really From Science Fiction )
Last week it came to our attention that the phrase "blast off" was coined—not in a purely scientific context, but a science fictional one—by E. E. Smith, an early science fiction author often referred to as "the father of space opera." The term appeared in Smith's 1937 story Galactic Patrol, when one character inquires of another, "How long do you figure it'll be before it's safe for us to blast off?"
And it turns out blast off isn't the only scientific word or phrase with science fictional origins; here is a list of nine more, originally composed by Jeff Prucher—editor for the Oxford English Dictionary's Science Fiction Project and author of the Hugo Award—winning Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction—for the Oxford University Press Blog.
9. Robotics
This is probably the most well-known of these, since Isaac Asimov is famous for (among many other things) his three laws of robotics. Even so, I include it because it is one of the only actual sciences to have been first named in a science fiction story ("Liar!", 1941). Asimov also named the related occupation (roboticist) and the adjective robotic.
8. Genetic engineering
The other science that received its name from a science fiction story, in this case Jack Williamson's novel Dragon's Island, which was coincidentally published in the same year as "Liar!" The occupation of genetic engineer took a few more years to be named, this time by Poul Anderson.
7. Zero-gravity/zero-g
A defining feature of life in outer space (sans artificial gravity, of course). The first known use of "zero-gravity" is from Jack Binder (better known for his work as an artist) in 1938, and actually refers to the gravityless state of the center of the Earth's core. Arthur C. Clarke gave us "zero-g" in his 1952 novel Islands in the Sky.
6. Deep space
One of the other defining features of outer space is its essential emptiness. In science fiction, this phrase most commonly refers to a region of empty space between stars or that is remote from the home world. E. E. "Doc" Smith seems to have coined this phrase in 1934. The more common use in the sciences refers to the region of space outside of the Earth's atmosphere.
5. Ion drive
An ion drive is a type of spaceship engine that creates propulsion by emitting charged particles in the direction opposite of the one you want to travel. The earliest citation in Brave New Words is again from Jack Williamson ("The Equalizer", 1947). A number of spacecraft have used this technology, beginning in the 1970s.
4. Pressure suit
A suit that maintains a stable pressure around its occupant; useful in both space exploration and high-altitude flights. This is another one from the fertile mind of E. E. Smith. Curiously, his pressure suits were furred, an innovation not, alas, replicated by NASA.
3. Virus
Computer virus, that is. Dave Gerrold (of "The Trouble With Tribbles" fame) was apparently the first to make the verbal analogy between biological viruses and self-replicating computer programs, in his 1972 story "When Harlie Was One."
2. Worm
Another type of self-replicating computer program. So named by John Brunner in his 1975 novel Shockwave Rider.
1. Gas giant
A large planet, like Jupiter or Neptune, that is composed largely of gaseous material. The first known use of this term is from a story ("Solar Plexus") by James Blish; the odd thing about it is that it was first used in a reprint of the story, eleven years after the story was first published. Whether this is because Blish conceived of the term in the intervening years or read it somewhere else, or whether it was in the original manuscript and got edited out is impossible to say at this point.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Video: Isaac Asimov on Humanism, Making Bigger Circles
My kindle readers can't see the video - but if you go to Youtube via your computer (Or via your Kindle Fire, when that's available) you can see plenty of vids of Asimov talking about everyhting under the sun.
The Next Mars Rover Is Nuclear-Powered
This is what my newscrawler told me would be said in this article:
The Next Mars Rover Is Nuclear-Powered
PCWorld
But in the article itself, Asimov's name isn't mentioned.
Nevertheless it's interesting.
From PCWorld, Geektech: The Next Mars Rover Is Nuclear-Powered
If you’ve seen the next Mar’s rover, named Curiosity (part of the Mars Science Laboratory--or MSL as it's called for short), you’ve probably noticed that it’s does not have solar panels, and that’s because it does not need them. NASA has opted for a more reliable miniature nuclear battery to serve as Curiosity’s main power source.
A few days before the rover's scheduled launch on November 25, NASA scientists will install the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. The generator is equipped with thermocouples that convert the heat generated from the natural decay of the plutonium dioxide into electricity. The power supply can provide Curiosity with a constant 110 watts of electricity that will allow the rover to travel farther than previous rovers and use more powerful analytical tools, all while continuously recharging its batteries.
NASA decided to use this alternative power source in place of solar panels because the Curiosity rover is like a compact car in comparison to its RC-car predecessors, Opportunity and Spirit. Curiosity weighs in at 2,000 pounds and measures 10 feet long, 9 feet wide, and 7 feet tall, which makes it twice as heavy and five times larger than the last two rovers.
The scientists also hope that the internal power system will also be more reliable in the dusty Martian environment than the solar panels on earlier rovers that were rendered useless in the planet’s winter.
The craziest thing about these radioisotope power sources is that they have been in use since the Apollo moon missions.
The Next Mars Rover Is Nuclear-Powered
PCWorld
It almost sounds like something out of Isaac Asimov's Foundation where nuclear energy power everything from ships to handguns, but it's true. A few days before the rover's scheduled launch on November 25, NASA scientists will install the Multi-Mission ...
But in the article itself, Asimov's name isn't mentioned.
Nevertheless it's interesting.
From PCWorld, Geektech: The Next Mars Rover Is Nuclear-Powered
If you’ve seen the next Mar’s rover, named Curiosity (part of the Mars Science Laboratory--or MSL as it's called for short), you’ve probably noticed that it’s does not have solar panels, and that’s because it does not need them. NASA has opted for a more reliable miniature nuclear battery to serve as Curiosity’s main power source.
A few days before the rover's scheduled launch on November 25, NASA scientists will install the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. The generator is equipped with thermocouples that convert the heat generated from the natural decay of the plutonium dioxide into electricity. The power supply can provide Curiosity with a constant 110 watts of electricity that will allow the rover to travel farther than previous rovers and use more powerful analytical tools, all while continuously recharging its batteries.
NASA decided to use this alternative power source in place of solar panels because the Curiosity rover is like a compact car in comparison to its RC-car predecessors, Opportunity and Spirit. Curiosity weighs in at 2,000 pounds and measures 10 feet long, 9 feet wide, and 7 feet tall, which makes it twice as heavy and five times larger than the last two rovers.
The scientists also hope that the internal power system will also be more reliable in the dusty Martian environment than the solar panels on earlier rovers that were rendered useless in the planet’s winter.
The craziest thing about these radioisotope power sources is that they have been in use since the Apollo moon missions.
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