Asimov's 40 Year-Old Essays Out of Date? Never!

Isaac Asimov needs no introduction. At least, IWhat types of topics does Asimov discuss? Well,
hope he doesn't, even though he passed awayhe spent a lot of time, in his later essays (the
almost 17 years ago. His science fiction books are1980s) trying to warn t he world about the
still well known - the Positronic Robot series anddangers of overpopulation. He mentioned global
the Foundation and Empire series are still in printwarming in an essay in his very first anthology,
to this day. So are some of his non-fiction works.way back in 1962.
Unfortunately, the essays he wrote for TheAsimov was a polymath, his interests were wide
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, whichand varied. He discussed chemistry, biochemistry,
were collected into twenty-three anthologies - theoceanography, astronomy, exploration, and so on.
first one published in 1962 and the last one in(Another thing that makes Asimov so fun to read
1990, have not fared so well. They are all out ofis his habit, after about 1963, to begin his essays
print and have been for some time.with a couple of paragraphs of personal anecdote,
Worse than that, they are probably no longerwhich are fun to read.)
available at your local library, either.Here's a list of all the essay collections - collected
And that is a pity.from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science
The fact that they are out of print is perhaps notFiction. (Asimov has other essay collections - he
egregious, but the fact that libraries across thecontributed essays to a wide variety of
country are "de-accessioning" them, is. (I knowmagazines, but the ones specifically form F &
they're being de-accessioned because when I putSF are the best.)
together my collection of all of Asimov's essayFact and Fancy 1962
anthologies last year, more than half of themView from a Height 1963
came from libraries. To add insult to injury, they'dAdding a Dimension 1964
charge a penny for each book, and $3.99 forOf Time, Space & Other Things 1965
postage! No Asimov book deserves to be sold forFrom Earth to Heaven 1966
a penny!Science, Numbers and I 1968
You will ask, with the pace of the advance ofThe Solar System and Back 1970
science what it is, why do I believe that scienceThe Stars in Their Course 1971
books that are anywhere between 40 to 18Left Hand of the Electron 1972
years old are still worth reading?The Tragedy of the Moon 1973
Well, to begin with, each of Asimov's essayOf Matters Great & Small 1975
anthology contains 17 essays, all on a variety ofThe Planet That Wasn't 1976
topics. A handful are concerned with math, aQuasar, Quasar, Burning Bright 1977
handful with astronomy and assorted spaceThe Road to Infinity 1979
sciences, a few with natural science, and so on.The Sun Shines Bright 1981
For each of these essays, Asimov either waxesAsimov on Science Fiction 1982
historical, explaining how a certain principle wasCounting the Eons 1983
discovered and by whom, or he explains theX Stands for Unknown 1984
principle itself, in simple concepts that most peopleThe Subatomic Monster 1985
can understand. (I do not claim to have graspedFar as Human Eye Could See 1987
every principle that Asimov explains, but manyThe Relativity of Wrong 1988
that had puzzled me, he does make clear.)Out of Everywhere 1990
Therefore, much of the information AsimovThe Secret of The Universe 1990
covers in any given essay is still valuable and ofSo, the fact that libraries are getting rid of these
use today.very valuable books is a pity, but on the other
And what of the information that is out of date?hand, it means that you can accumulate them all
Well - that's worth reading too, because it is justfor very little money. They will be invaluable to
as "historical" as the rest of the history Asimovyour library - not to mention your own knowledge
covers in these essays.of the scientific world around you, and its history.