Isaac Asimov: Science, Technology and Space

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ASIMOV: Gee, I don't know that there's anything particularly fascinating about my background. My family migrated, from a small village in Russia to New York City, when I was three years old. We lived in Brooklyn, my parents ran a candy store, and I worked in the store—whenever I could—during my childhood years.

Now my father thought that most of the publications he car ried in his shop's newsstand were "junk", so he wouldn't let me read them. He did let me read science fiction, though. He couldn't speak English very well, you see . . . and I think he felt that science fiction must have had something to do with science, and that it therefore would be good for me.

So at age nine I began reading science fiction. And, over the years, I became so interested in such stories that—by the time I reached 17 years of age—I started trying to write some of my own. My first few attempts were rejected by the magazines, but—after several months of trying—I did manage to sell some of my work.

I didn't think I could ever earn a living as a science fiction writer, however, so I continued my career. I went on to enter graduate school and began studying biochemistry—and eventually became an honest-to-God scientist. I also got married, served a stint in the Army, had two children, and all the while continued writing science fiction on the side.

PLOWBOY: When did you make the switch from writing mostly science fiction to producing science texts?

ASIMOV: That phase of my career started when I was teaching at Boston University's Medical School and was asked to help two of my co-workers write a biochemistry textbook. I agreed to give them a hand, and soon discovered that writing nonfiction was even more fun than writing fiction. I also found, however, that working with other people put limits on me, so I decided to go it on my own . . . and learned that I greatly enjoyed writing about science when I could do it myself and in my own way.

Then, in 1957, Sputnik One was put into orbit, and many people felt that the United States educational system had been neglecting science. So, being reasonably patriotic, I felt I ought to write more books about science, and—roughly from that moment on—my literary output became largely nonfiction.

PLOWBOY: Do you still write science fiction?

ASIMOV: Some. Actually, I now write more mysteries. Still, to the end of my days I'll probably be known as a science fiction writer. And I have no objection to that . . . that's the field in which I made my reputation.

PLOWBOY: Can you give me a good definition of science fiction?

ASIMOV: Every science fiction writer defines it differently. For instance, John Campbell—the great, late editor—said that science fiction stories are those that science fiction editors buy.

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