My Youthful Sense of Wonder

Asimov's Foundation novels grounded my economics 
Introduction to new edition of Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy
Paul Krugman [Nobel Prize winning economist], www.guardian.co.uk, 04 Dec 2012

I don't expect many of you will read this article, and that's perfectly OK. For those so inclined, I must warn you, the content is a major plot spoiler. I suspect the author too does not expect all that many people will read it, the interested audience being mostly limited to those who have already read Asimov's trilogy. To quote Krugman, the trilogy “offers a still-inspiring dream of a social science that could save civilisation.”

Incidentally, I detest the spoiler aspect of book introductions, because I almost always try to read them. As soon as I sense that my reading experience is being spoiled, I immediately stop, and proceed directly to the story. I don't know why those introducing books do this, but I can imagine there is not a lot to say without actually discussing the content – a catch 22. Why intros? Publishers love to have a well known, prestigious luminary write an intro, so his name can be included on the cover beside the author's. Thus people who have never heard of the author, but are familiar with the intro writer's name, will be motivated to read (buy!) the book.

The Foundation Trilogy is one of the few science fiction works that, at least for me, tower above the rest. I read it as an early teen, and it  influenced me a great deal. Other novels that have so affected me include Frank Herbert's Dune, William Gibson's Neuromancer, David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself, Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, and Nevil Shute's On the Beach. As I finished each of these books, I exclaimed “Wow!”

One of my correspondents mentioned to me Theodore Sturgeon's provocative novel Venus Plus X. I don't believe I have read it, but that is a rather glaring omission on my part. The Sturgeon short story I would include in my Wow list is -- "If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?"

Finally, adding to the list after the fact, I would also include Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man, as well as Cordwainer Smith's "Instrumentality of Mankind" stories, particularly "Drunkboat" and "Scanners Live in Vain".  I might be able to think of more, because I have read so much science fiction, but let's just leave it at that.