Foundation

Foundation is a collection of five short stories, which were first published together as a book in 1951. Four of the stories were originally published in Astounding Magazine between 1942 and 1944, and the fifth was added when they first appeared in book form.

Cover: Michael Whelan.

The Galactic Empire had lasted for 12,000 years and ruled over a million planets. But now it was dying. Hari Seldon, creator of the science of psychohistory, knew that it's death would be followed by 30,000 years of brutal barbarism and savage warfare.

To preserve knowledge and shorten the dark period to a mere thousand years, Hari Seldon set up the Encyclopedia Foundation and staffed it with the best scholars and scientists of the Empire. Then he placed it upon Terminus, a bleak world at the edge of the galaxy.

But now the Empire was retreating, leaving the Foundation isolated and unprotected. Around it, little barbarian kingdoms were already beginning their wars in search of dominance.

The Foundation knew itself as the only hope of mankind. But what could it do, alone and helpless, against the greed of the warlords who were reaching out to conquer and destroy it.