According to my always-first read of the day The Writer’s Almanac, today is the birthday of Isaac Asimov
, the most published writer in the history of the U.S., and maybe the world. By the time Asimov died in 1992, he had published over 400 works on everything from Science Fiction to Biology to Shakespeare and the Bible. He wrote to learn about things. What a wonderful idea.
A few years ago, I purchased on eBay a copy of the first Asmiov book I remember reading, Is Anyone There? It’s a collection of short essays on everything from what a real Martian would look like, considering the conditions on the planet to the nature of time travel, and how it’s already a reality (one-way, that is). It’s a fantastic book, and one that served as a primer for me on a lot of different subjects.
If you were marooned on a desert island with only the works of one author and chose Asimov, after a few months, you’d probably be so entertained, educated and informed that you’d work hard to avoid rescue.
