Small biography of the Master

   Isaac Asimov was born on January 2, 1920 in the town of Petrovichi, in Russia. His family quickly decided to emigrate to the United States and arrived in New York City on February 3, 1923.

    He was a brilliant child and quickly advanced in his studies. He got his Ph.D in biochemistry from Columbia University in 1948, after a brief stint in the military. He then obtained a postdoctoral position at Columbia, doing research on malaria. In 1949, he took a job of instructor in biochemistry at the Boston University School of Medecine, and quickly became assistant, then associate professor. However, he resigned in 1958 to become a full-time author. In 1979, the University granted him full professor status.

    It is estimated that Asimov wrote his first serious story at the age of eleven. Complimented by one of his friends, he took himself seriously as an author. In 1942 came the first story that catapulted him to science-fiction stardom. It was the first of four short stories that make up the "novel" Foundation , published in 1951. He wrote over 400 books until his death in 1992. His last novel, Forward the Foundation, tough incomplete (he wanted to add a fifth short story to the four that are in the book), is a brilliant testimony of the Master's talent.

    Asimov was a brilliant man, and was a member of the Mensa for many years. He was a humanist, and as such had no religious beliefs. He loved working in small, closed spaces, and had a fear a flying. Asimov was married twice, and had a son and daughter from his first mariage.

    As a tribute to his life's work, Asimov was posthumously inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1997. History will remember him as one of the 20th century's greatest minds and one the greatest authors of science-fiction of all time.