In this book and its prequels/sequels, we see humanity guided by the work of fictional "mathematician, Hari Seldon, who works out the rules of psychohistory and makes a secret chart that the humankind spreads across the galaxy will follow in order to shorten the thousands of years of misery after the (impending) doom of the Empire. You may think the guy never heard of "sensitive dependence on initial conditions", but hey, there are mathematicians who are nudging people in the right direction whenever a deviation occurs. FANTASTIC reading. [The Foundation series] has merged with his "Robot" series, at the beginning of which one of the directors of US Robotics is a mathematician named Peter Bogert, who is vain and always makes wrong decisions (to be put in his place by Susan Calvin, the legendary robopsychologist).

For me, the Foundation series (just the three volumes published in the 1950s, not the four extra volumes published in the 1980s) is absolutely the best Science Fiction there is. The amazing story is told in very simple language and very short sentences. It is a synopsis of the various stages of human history, with the ascendence of military, religious and economic powers. The central character, who died in the very first chapter, was a mathematician. His philosophy (Hari Seldon's, and dare I say Isaac Asimov's) epitomizes the role of the universities, as the sole guardian of the long-term interest of human beings (Mac Kay). Right now, I see many education practices which are detrimental to real learning, and yet they are driven from so high up in the political and academic hierarchy that they are irrestible. So all I can do is to preserve and construct as much good material as I can manage, and hope that this will form a small part of the nucleus from which a new phoenix will arise after the current system has crumbled to ashes. Along with his short story "The Feeling of Power", Asimov's Foundation series has profound influence on my career.

One of the problems with the Foundation trilogy, like some other comments I count only the three original books, is that it tries to put calculation as a defining factor in human action. I've been studying economics, rather than mathematics. The insights of Ludwig von Mises into the "socialist calculation problem" predicted not only the failure of any tightly regulated economy, but also why Long Term Capital Management, employing epic mathematical talent, failed and failed big time! The application of mathematics to human interaction cannot predict, because human preferences change. While Harry Seldon's calculations make for good fiction, the idea itself is a Utopian a dead end.

Like the concept of a ray gun, or the shot to the Moon, Issac Asimov showed the same mathimatical 'genius' that scientists use to predict Black Holes. There is a method to this madness and only a few geniuses can even comprehend the idea of it, although it would probably take a double genius to figure the need to accomplish it. I read the Foundation and Empire trilogy in the 1960's and it has become a basic frame over the years with which has helped me understand that a trip to chaos and back is predictible. Any movement is predicitble, static is not. Theory is not conclusive proof.